What do I do if I can't pay?What happens if I can't pay? If you are already set-up for paying by installments and a payment is overdue, a reminder is issued for the arrears amount. If you are not set-up for payment by installment, we will issue a final notice. What should I do if I receive a reminder? If payment is then made within 7 days, the instalments method of payment continues. If you cannot bring your payments up to date within 7 days you should contact your local Land & Property Services (rating ) office as it may be possible to make different arrangements. What happens if I don't pay when I receive my reminder? If payments are not brought up to date within 7 days, or you don't contact your local office to discuss your payment difficulties, we will issue a final notice. Whichever payment method you use, you should always allow 5 working days for payment to reach your rate account. What do I do when I receive a final notice? A final notice will issue 40 days after the original demand. It will give you 10 days to pay the FULL amount of rates still outstanding for the year, or to contact your local Land & Property Services (rating) office. The right to pay by monthly instalments is also lost, although a payment arrangement may still be possible by contacting us. What happens if I don't pay when I receive a final notice? Unless you make a suitable arrangement with us, or pay the whole amount due within 10 days, we will issue a Process in Debt Proceedings and charge you extra costs without any further reminder being sent. Why is a Process in Debt Proceedings sent? If the amount shown on the final notice is not paid within 10 days, or if you do not contact us, a Court Process may be sent for the balance outstanding for the year, plus additional costs. If full payment is made to your local office before the court date, including the costs, then that is the end of the matter. What happens if I don't pay when I receive a Process in Debt Proceedings? If full payment is not made the case will be presented to the Magistrates' Court on the day stated. Can I make an arrangement after receiving a Process? When a Process has been issued we must request full payment. If you are unable to make full payment, unfortunately we cannot make an arrangement prior to the court hearing. However, it would be in your interest to continue to make payments in order to reduce the debt, and you must contact us again after the court date. Do I actually have to appear in court? Your appearance in court is normally only necessary if you want to dispute the amount, or if you have a legal matter to bring to the attention of the court in relation to proceedings. The court will normally award a decree in the event of non-attendance. What happens after the court date? If the Magistrate awards a decree on the date of the court hearing, this will issue to the ratepayer approximately 15-16 days after the court date. At Decree stage you are still obliged to make contact with us to a suitable arrangement for repayment. Why have I received a Notice of Intention? This will issue to ratepayers who have not paid or made an arrangement following the award of a Decree. The document is issued by the Enforcement of Judgements Office on our behalf and it will give you 10 days to pay your balance in full. If the case is lodged with the Enforcement of Judgements Office it will be published in Stubbs Gazette and this will have a detrimental effect on your credit rating. What is the Enforcement of Judgements Office? The Enforcement of Judgements Office (EJO) is an independent body to which we can apply to have a decree obtained in the Magistrates Court enforced. What happens if I still haven't paid my rates at this stage? When an application for enforcement is lodged with the EJO, further substantial costs are added to the account in question, ranging from £150.00 to £250.00 on a sliding scale depending on the amount of debt. The EJO may take a range of action to enforce the judgement, the main ones are: -
Can I be adjudicated bankrupt? Action of this type is not associated with the Enforcement of Judgements Office, however the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 allows us to initiate Bankruptcy or Liquidation proceedings against debtors. If the debtor has an accumulated debt of £750 owing, we may serve the debtor with a Statutory Demand. Failure to comply with the Statutory Demand will result in us proceeding to a bankruptcy petition. The initiation of bankruptcy action will result in substantial costs being added to your account. |
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