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How to check the council tax band for your property

The band for your property is shown on your council tax bill above the charge details – look for the words 'Annual Charges for Council Tax Band'.

You can also check your Council Tax band on the Government website.


The wait time for our Council Tax call handlers to answer your call can vary at different times of the day. The lines can be especially busy at the beginning of the working week. If you have received a letter from us and need to speak to a call handler, please bear in mind that many other residents will have also received a letter and they too are trying to call us.

One Stop Shops

Sefton Council has two One Stop Shops located within the borough dealing with a range of face to face enquiries for many of our Council Services.
 
Bootle One Stop Shop is located on 324 Stanley Road, Bootle, L20 3ET
 
Southport One Stop Shop is located within The Atkinson, Lord Street, Southport, PR8 1DB
 
For Bootle One Stop Shop you can drop-in during the hours of 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday or alternatively you can request an appointment. Bootle One Stop Shop is at its busiest during the hours of 12pm to 2.00pm, please try to avoid these hours, should you wish to keep your waiting time to a minimum. 
  
For Southport One Stop Shop recently relocated from Cambridge Arcade to The Atkinson, we offer an appointment only service during the hours of 10am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
 
If you require an appointment for either One Stop Shop please contact our Contact Centre on 0345 140 0845.

If you use our online forms to contact us, your enquiry will be handled sooner.

We are currently experiencing a high volume of calls to our Contact Centre and requests to our Council Tax Teams -  in part due to the cost of living crisis.

Both teams are currently prioritising supporting the most vulnerable and those in need of help and support from our Emergency Limited Assistance Scheme (ELAS). 

We appreciate that the current response times will be frustrating for people trying to contact the Council, so we have taken steps to recruit and train additional staff, and our staff are working extra hours to help meet the demand. We would encourage people to use online processes wherever possible. 

Our Council Tax team is currently experiencing a high volume of calls and enquiries, partly due to the cost-of-living crisis and also a recent change in systems. Priority is given to our most vulnerable residents and those experiencing financial hardship. Enquiries around a change of address or a new occupier can take up to 14 weeks to process.

The Council will always try to support residents struggling with their Council Tax payments by working with them to extend payments over a longer period of time. We encourage residents who know that they are responsible for paying Council Tax to put money aside to cover their bill when it arrives wherever possible. We understand that these delays can be frustrating for people and work is ongoing to reduce the time taken to respond to the current level of enquiries.

Our staff are working additional hours to help reduce waiting times, we have also recently introduced the new My Account service which is an online account for residents to view and manage their account online, as well as submit changes to their circumstances online. Over 50% of the changes coming in via the My Account portal are automatically updating Council Tax records. The remaining changes reported are being handled by Council Tax staff due to the level of checks required and these are being dealt with within 2 weeks of being received.

We would like to thank residents for their patience at this time. We apologise for the delays and are working hard to reduce the time taken to deal with current level of enquiries. 

This page will be regularly updated with expected timescales for handling enquiries. If you have not received a response to your original enquiry, we request that you do not make a follow-up enquiry within the timescales detailed below as this will only add to the delays we are currently experiencing.

Application for a Discount/Exemption – response up to 9 weeks

Please note that if you have not supplied supporting evidence where required this may delay the processing of your application.

Apply for a council tax discount or exemption 

Change of Address / Household Occupier Details – response time up to 14 weeks.

Notify us about your change of address.

Other Enquiries – response time up to 10 weeks.

 

 

 

We understand that receiving a summons can be very worrying if you are unable to pay the amount due in full. It is our desire to agree reasonable payment arrangements. 

Make an offer to repay your council tax.

Once completed, we will suspend further recovery action until your offer is accepted and a new formal arrangement made to pay your remaining Council Tax in instalments.

After you have completed the form please make payments as per your offer until a member of the Council Tax team contacts you. We aim to respond to all offers of payment within 10 working days.

If you are on a low income you may be eligible to receive Council Tax Reduction. Details of the scheme and the online application process is in the link below.

Find out if you're eligible for a council tax reduction

If you are already in receipt of Council Tax Reduction, you may be able to request an Exceptional Hardship Fund payment if you are experiencing hardship caused by unusual or extreme circumstances. The Exceptional Hardship Fund application process is in the link below. 

Request an Exceptional Hardship Fund payment


Last Updated on Friday, January 5, 2024

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