No, it will "carry forward". The Method of Payment and the instalments are detailed on the back of your bill. If you have a standing order (also known as a banker's order) you will need to forward the new form, enclosed with the bill, to your Bank or Building Society.

Yes, the Second Property Discount has remained at 10% since it was introduced in 2004.  Please follow these links for more information about Council Tax discounts and exemptions.

The level of Council Tax is set by Members of the Council. If you wish to complain about the charge you should contact your Councillor in the first instance or write to the Executive Head of Financial Services, Sarah Gobey.  To query precept amounts for either West Sussex County Council or Sussex Police Authority you should contact them directly (their phone numbers appear on the leaflets that are enclosed with the bills).

Your Council Tax pays for services provided by West Sussex County Council, the Sussex Police Authority and Worthing Borough Council. The leaflet enclosed with your bill gives more details.

Methods of payment are listed in the 'How To Pay' leaflet, which includes a Direct Debit Mandate for your convenience. Your payment options are:

• Cash or cheque at the Town Hall either at the Cash Office or using the Kiosk;
• Cheque by post;
• Direct Debit, Bankers Order, Bank Giro Credit for which vouchers are required. You should check with the Bank to see if there are any charges made for this service);
• Card payments (debit and credit cards) either using the automated payment line 01903 221012, speaking to a Customer Service Advisor on 01903 221061, or online by following this link 
• Trans-cash at the Post Office (check with the Post Office to see if any charges are made for this service)

How to Pay Council Tax

You are required to pay on the first of the month commencing in April.  The only concession to this is if you pay by Direct Debit when you can choose to pay on the 1st, 8th or 15th.  However Direct Debit mandates must be received at least 15 days before the Direct Debit is due to be debited from your account.  Therefore, in most cases, a manual payment will be required for next instalment.

If you are not paying by Direct Debit and you pay later in the month, you are likely to receive a Reminder Notice. If the reminder is not acted upon quickly enough, recovery action will be taken against you. For details please see the What happens if I don't Pay? page.  If you are paid at the end of the month please start paying your Council Tax at the end of March.

If you have a Direct Debit set up for February or March please check the date the bill was produced to see if it is prior to your Payment being received. If  you do not have a Direct Debit due in February or March it means that you have some amounts outstanding for one or more previous financial years for which you have already received bills. You may, or may not have arrangements in place to clear these but, either way, any arrears are not included in your annual instalments and you will have to pay them separately.

The statutory instalment scheme states that you are entitled to 10 instalments in any one complete financial year. The Council determines the dates and Worthing Borough Council requires payment on the 1st of the month from April to January (unless you pay by Direct Debit in which case you may pay on 1st, 8th or 15th). There is no entitlement to pay over 12 months and payment over a 12 month period will result in recovery action being taken.

Information regarding discounts is detailed in the leaflet that accompanied your Council Tax bill. The most common discount is for single occupancy (25% discount). If you feel you are entitled to a discount, please explain why. In some instances, we will be able to accept your telephone confirmation but a form may have to be completed for our records, please visit the Council Tax Discounts page to download a form.  In addition, you may apply for Council Tax Benefit or Second Adult Rebate if you are in receipt of a low income.

The amount of Council Tax Benefit shown on the award letter will be converted to an annual figure, and the annual figure will be shown on your Council Tax bill.  If you are in receipt of maximum Council Tax Benefit, you do not have to pay anything towards your Council Tax bill unless you have a non-dependent charge.  It may be that your Council Tax Benefit has not been processed yet in which case you are legally required to pay the Council Tax until your claim is assessed. Any overpayment you make will be deducted from your future Council Tax payments.  For more information please contact a Customer Service Advisor on 01903 221062.

Please contact a Benefits Customer Services Advisor on 01903 221062 to discuss your entitlement.

This is due to the 'Annual Uprating' where the applicable amount (the amount the Government states you need to live on) is increased from April and the benefit level is recalculated accordingly. For further information please contact a Benefits Customer Services Advisor on 01903 221062.

This is because you have 2 weeks rent free (one week from 31 March 2008 to 7 April 2008, and one week from 29 December 2008 to 5 January 2009) but the rent charge for 50 weeks is divided by the 52 weeks in the financial year.  For further information, please contact a Customer Services Advisor on 01903 221062.

If your Housing Benefit was paid to your landlord at the end of March 2008, your entitlement from the beginning of April 2008 will continue to be paid to your landlord.  However, to clarify the situation, please contact a Benefits Customer Services Advisor on 01903 221062 to discuss your claim.

If your Housing Benefit was paid to you by BACS transfer as at the end of March 2008, your entitlement from the beginning of April 2008 will continue to be paid by BACS.  However, to clarify the situation, please contact a Benefits Customer Services Advisor on 01903 221062 to discuss your claim.