It’s important that you pay your business rates instalments in full and on time. Failure to do so could lead to court proceedings.
If you are having difficulty paying, please contact the Business Rates Team on 0151 606 2002 and we will try to come to an arrangement for payment with you.
Please act promptly, as any delay may increase the arrears and make it more difficult to agree on a more manageable repayment plan.
By law, Business Rates must be paid by the due date. If you fall into arrears, we will normally begin recovery action to collect the outstanding debt. It is important to contact the Business Rates Team immediately if you can’t afford to pay your Business Rates bill as we may be able to help.
It’s also important to take notice of any reminder notices you may receive, as you may be liable for legal costs in addition to the outstanding rates if recovery action is taken.
It can take several days for payments to reach us, so you must allow sufficient time for payment to reach us by the it’s due date.
You must still pay the amount on the bill we have sent if you are waiting to hear from us about a rate relief application or are in discussion with the HMRC Valuation Office about the Rateable Value for the property. Once the decision has been made, you'll get a new bill that allows for any overpayment.
To pay the amount due now, you can pay your Business Rates online or call our 24 hour payment line on 0151 606 2345. You will need your debit or credit card and your Business Rates account number.
If you fail to make a payment on time, we will issue you with a Reminder. The Reminder Notice requires you to pay the amount due within 7 days. If payment is not made received within 7 days, your right to make future payments by instalments will be lost. This means you must then pay the full year’s balance within the next 7 days online via the Wirral Council Secure Payment Portal
You should contact the Business rates team without delay should you receive a reminder notice from us when the you have already paid.
To pay the amount due now, pay your business rates online visit the Wirral Council Secure Payment Portal or call our 24-hour payment line on 0151 606 2345. You will need your debit or credit card and your Business Rates account number.
If you have paid late once and then fail to pay again on time, a Final Notice will be issued. This means you lose the right to pay by instalments, and the full balance for the year must be paid within the next 7 days.
A summons can be served if you don’t pay the total amount shown on the reminder or Final Notice within 7 days. The summons will notify you of the date that the Court Hearing has been set. The cost of serving the summons will be added to your debt. You can stop the recovery proceedings by paying the full amount on the summons (this will include summons costs currently £124) before the date of the hearing.
If the full amount is not paid before the hearing date, the case will proceed to court. If you are unable to pay in full, you should contact the Business Rates team to discuss arranging payments for the outstanding balance. The case will still proceed, but no further recovery action will be taken providing an agreed payment plan is set and payments are then paid when due.
You do not need to attend the court hearing if you accept that the outstanding amount is owed. The Court is unable to consider your financial circumstances or discuss payment arrangements
If you believe you have already paid, or that someone else is responsible for paying, please contact us. If we agree, we will either stop proceedings or request that the hearing is postponed. Contacting us at an earlier stage could help you avoid unnecessary time and costs if you do not think the amount is due.
If the case proceeds to court, we apply for a Liability Order. This order enables the Council to take action to recover the outstanding debt. The cost of obtaining the order is added to your account and must be paid, even if a payment arrangement has been agreed.
If we have agreed a payment plan with you, we will only enforce the Liability Order if you miss a payment. However, a Liability Order can be enforced immediately if a payment plan has not been agreed.
Actions that may be taken include instructing enforcement agents (bailiffs) to recover the debt, as well as commencing bankruptcy or winding-up (liquidation) proceedings.
Enforcement agents are certificated by the County Court. This certification must be renewed every two years. This is an independent process, and it is one that agents take seriously.
The court certification process reinforces that enforcement agents act as authorised officers of the court. Agents are certified by a judge, to uphold and ensure professional conduct and high standards are adhered to.
The enforcement sector is subject to close scrutiny and continuous monitoring to ensure that standards of conduct remain of the highest quality.
All enforcement agents are required to pass an exam to qualify for certification and the final decision is made by a judge. The exam tests an agent’s knowledge of the law as well as the industry standards they must meet.
Agents wear body-worn cameras to record their visits on film. Film footage is constantly reviewed to monitor agents’ conduct and performance. This includes checking that agents are adhering to standards of privacy, such as not filming minors and or personal information such as credit card details.
Agents’ vehicles are often tracked by satellite, and their phone use can be monitored, and call centre calls are recorded
If you receive an unexpected phone call from an Enforcement Agent, you can ask them to verify their identity before continuing with the call. In these circumstances, request their Head Office phone number, check the company’s website to confirm that this is correct, then call the Head Office to confirm their identity.
If you are not in when the Enforcement Agent calls, they will leave their contact details. You should either pay in full including the fees or contact the Enforcement Agent to arrange another visit.
1. Liability Order given to enforcement company
The liability order may be passed to an enforcement agent or enforcement company to collect the outstanding debt. If this happens, an additional fee of £79 will be added to the amount owed.
2. Compliance stage
At compliance stage , you will be sent a ‘Notice of Enforcement’. This gives details of:
You will have at least fourteen days (not including Sundays or Bank Holidays) before any further action is taken by the enforcement agent or company, unless a court has instructed otherwise.
At this point you should contact the enforcement agent or company immediately to arrange for payment to be made to them.
If your debt is passed to enforcement agents, you will need to contact them directly to discuss payment of this debt. You will have to pay extra fees:
£247 (£235 prior to 1 May 2026) if the enforcement agent attends your property
The ‘Notice of Enforcement’ also provides contact details for free debt advice services, so if you’re experiencing difficulties, it may be helpful to contact them
3. Enforcement stage
If the enforcement agent or company does not receive a response from you by the specified date, the case will progress to the enforcement stage. At this point, an enforcement agent will visit you at least once to arrange payment, and an additional fee of £247 (plus 7.5% of any debt over £1,900) will be added to the total amount owed.
The enforcement agent will carry their enforcement agent certificate and photographic ID. They are not obliged to inform you of the precise date and time of a visit. It could be anytime from 6am – 9pm on any day including Sundays, and religious or public holidays.
The Enforcement Agent may let the goods stay in your property, providing you make an arrangement to pay. The Enforcement Agent will provide you with a list of the goods covered, and if you do not keep up the payments, they can return and remove the goods.
If the Enforcement Agent has to visit your property to attempt to remove goods, a fee of £110 will be added (plus an additional 7.5% of any amount over £1,500). This is known as the Sale or Disposal Stage.
There will be additional costs (disbursements) involved with this process including the costs of removal, storage and the auctioneer’s fees. Usually, goods sold at auction will not make the same money you paid for them.
Enforcement Agents can only remove goods belonging to the person named on the liability order. They cannot remove certain goods; these include:
4. Sale stage
If full payment is not made you risk having your possessions removed for sale by the enforcement agent.
A fee of £116 (plus 7.5% of the original debt over £1,900) is added to the amount owed to cover costs for moving the possessions so they can be sold. Additional (actual) costs for other expenses, such as hiring a locksmith, storing goods or auction costs, may be applied. Further expenses are limited and must be approved by the court.
Statutory enforcement agent fees have increased at all stages. For civil enforcement (including Business Rates), a 5% uplift applies to cases issued on or after 1 May 2026, along with a higher threshold for percentage-based fees.
| Enforcement Stage | Fixed Fee | Percentage Fee (amount exceeding £1,900) |
| Compliance Stage | £79.00 | 0% |
| Enforcement Stage | £247.00 | 7.5% |
| Sale or Disposal Stage | £116.00 | 7.5% |
We monitor the Enforcement Agents’ performance on a continual basis, to ensure that the Enforcement Agents are working within the terms and conditions of our contract. We have a code of practice in place.
This is in addition to the Enforcement Agents’ own code of practice and lays down the guidelines and procedures that the Enforcement Agent is required to follow.
If you think the Enforcement Agent has done anything wrong, you can complain to the council.