Worthing Borough Council

Yes.  The secure self-service system is an ideal way the register to see details about your own account, including the charge, discounts and exemptions that have been granted, payments that have been made (but please note that payments made today will not be shown) and finally your acccount balance.  Please take me to Self Service.

No, it will "carry forward". The Method of Payment and the instalments are shown on the back of your bill.

However, if you have a Standing Order (also known as a Banker's Order) you will need to send a new form, enclosed with your bill, to your bank or building society.

Yes, the Second Property Discount has remained at 10% since it was introduced in 2004, and this applies to furnished but unoccupied properties.  However, unfurnished and unoccupied properties (known as "long-term empty" properties) receive no discount after any period of exemption.  Please follow these links for more information about Council Tax discounts and exemptions.

Your Council Tax pays for the services provided by West Sussex County Council, 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:

• By cash or cheque at the Town Hall Cash Office;
• By cash at any outlet that displays the PayPoint logo;
• By sending a cheque by post;
• By Direct Debit, Bankers Order or Bank Giro Credit.  You should check with your bank to see whether there are any charges made for this service;
• By card payment (debit and credit cards) either using the automated payment line 0300 123 6002, speaking to a Customer Service Advisor on 01903 221061, or online by following this link;
• By Trans-cash at the Post Office (you should check with the Post Office to see whether any charges are made for this service)

Further details are available on the How to Pay Council Tax web page.

This can be done over the phone (contact 01903 221061) and you do not need to fill in a new Direct Debit mandate.

You are required to pay on the first of the month starting 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 set up at least 15 days before the Direct Debit is due to be debited from your account so in most cases, a "manual" payment (cash or cheque) will be required for next instalment to allow time for the Direct Debit to be set up.

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? web page.  If you are paid at the end of each 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 before your payment would have been received.

If  you do not have a Direct Debit due in February or March it means that you owe some money for one or more previous financial years, and you would already have received separate bills for these amounts.  You may or may not have arrangements in place to pay these amounts, but either way any arrears will not be included in your annual instalments for the new financial year 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 (a 25% discount).  If you think you are entitled to a discount, please contact us to explain why.  In some instances, we will be able to accept information over the telephone but we may ask you to complete a form 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.

Yes.  The secure self-service system is an ideal way to view information about your Housing and/or Council Tax Benefit claim.  As a tenant, you can register to see details about your own claim including your benefit awards, the details that we have used to assess your entitlement plus the payments that have been made.

If you are a landlord who receives payments in respect of a tenant, you can see information aabout your tenant's entitlement and the payments that have been issued (but you will not be able to access their personal details that have been used to calculate their entitlement).

Please take me to Self Service.

The amount of Council Tax Benefit shown on your award letter will be converted to an annual figure, which will then 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.

If you have recently submitted a claim for benefit it may be that your entitlement has not been calculated 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 Customer Service Advisor on 01903 221062 who will be happy to explain the calculation.

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.  Any other changes that we are aware of (for example, the amount of Job Seeker's Allowance you receive) will also be included, and then the amount of benefit you are entitled to is recalculated accordingly.  For further information please contact a Customer Service Advisor on 01903 221062.

This is because you have 2 weeks rent free (one week from 26 December 2011 to 1 January 2012 and one week from 26 March 2012 to 1 April 2012).  Therefore, the total amount of rent that you are charged for 50 weeks is divided by the 52 weeks in the financial year and it is this weekly figure that is used in the Housing Benefit calculation.  For further information, please contact a Customer Service Advisor on 01903 221062.

If your Housing Benefit was paid to your landlord as at the end of March 2011, your entitlement from the beginning of April 2011 will continue to be paid to your landlord.  If we are paying your landlord, your new notification letter will state that this is what's happening, but if you want to clarify the situation please contact a Customer Service 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 2011, your entitlement from the beginning of April 2011 will continue to be paid by BACS.  This will also be explained in your new notification letter, but if you wish to clarify the situation please contact a Customer Service Advisor on 01903 221062 to discuss your claim.