You can go to the council’s online council tax band search.  You can do this anytime, even in our Contact Warrington office on Horsemarket Street.

The council itself is responsible for setting the level of council tax for each band.

The Valuation Office Agency decides which band your property falls into based on its value in 1991. Any new properties are reported to the Valuation Officer and we are notified weekly of any new bands or changes to bandings. 

Find out more in the Valuation bands section.

Yes, everyone has the right to pay by monthly instalments. However, it is important to note that if you do not pay your instalments on time (the exact date shown on your bill) the right to pay by instalments will be withdrawn and proceedings will be instigated to collect the charge in full Instalments will be granted for the following financial year's council tax.

Yes, we offer the 5th, 10th, 20th and 30th of the month as payment dates for Direct Debit, just call us on 01925 443210 and we can change it for you.

Did you know – if you pay by direct debit we can also offer 12 monthly instalments rather than the usual 10 instalments, thus allowing you to spread your payments further and reduce your monthly instalments.

No we will automatically transfer your direct debit to your new bill. If you pay over 10 months and have February and March payment free we will freeze your direct debit and re-start it for your first payment in April. There is no need to cancel it and then re-set it up.

You can open an online account on our revenues and benefits online service, so you can check your outstanding balance and instalment dates anytime without having to contact us by phone.

Go to the revenues and benefits online service and select 'council tax' and then click the link to register for a password. As soon as you receive your password you will be able to view your account anytime online.

You can even access this in our Contact Warrington office on Horsemarket Street on our self-serve computers where our staff will be happy to help you.

** Please note this service is currently undergoing maintenance **

Call us on 01925 443210 and order a replacement – no need to wait for someone to answer unless your payment is due or overdue, just leave a message requesting a new card on our answer machine, giving your unique account reference number (beginning 70 for council tax) or if you don’t have that just leave the first line of your address and your postcode and your phone number in case of any problems.  We’ll issue you a new card within 3-5 working days.

Or you can come into our office on Horsemarket Street and our staff will order you a new one.

The full council tax bill assumes that there are at least two adults living in a dwelling. If only one adult (over 18) lives in a dwelling (as their main home), the council tax bill will be reduced by a quarter (25%).  If this applies to you, fill in the Single Persons Discount Form.

Some people will not be counted (disregarded) when looking at the number of adults living in a dwelling if they meet any of the following conditions:

• full time students in higher education, student nurses, apprentices and Youth Training trainees, non-British spouses of students. Student Exemption Form, Apprentice Form, Youth Training Scheme Form
• Patients resident in a hospital. Hospital in-patient Form
• People who are being looked after in care homes. Care Home Resident Form
• People who are severely mentally impaired. SMI Form
• 18 and 19 year-olds who are at, or have just left, school and in receipt of child benefit. Further Education Form
• care workers working for low pay, usually for charities Volunteer Care Workers Form
• people caring for someone with a disability who is not a spouse, partner or child under 18. Carer Disregard Form
• members of religious communities (i.e., monks and nuns) Religious Community Form
• people serving a prison sentence (except those in prison for non-payment of council tax or a fine) In Prison Form

People on a low income can claim council tax benefit which may mean they have less to pay.

No, unfortunately the Disabled Person’s Relief only applies if you or someone who lives with you (an adult or a child) needs extra space in the property for the use of a wheelchair, or an additional bathroom, kitchen or other room to meet special needs arising from a disability. For properties in band B to H, the relief is given by calculating your Council tax bill based on the Valuation Band lower than the one allocated to your property. A similar reduction also applies to Band A properties.

If you think you maybe entitled to a reduction call us on 01925 443210 for an application form.

No, you may however wish to contact our Environment & Regeneration team to find out if your road has been adopted by Warrington Borough Council yet from the building company working on your housing estate or to report highway issues that you think need attention on 01925 443000.

You can call us on 01925 443210 to inform our advisors. We will need to ask you some questions such as a forwarding address.

If the house you are moving to is being bought we will need solicitor details and a date of completion for the sale for both the old and new properties.

If the house you are leaving/moving to is rented we will need to ask you if the property is rented furnished/unfurnished and the name and address of the landlord(s) along with any letting agents’ details and tenancy start and end dates.

If you wish to be prepared ready for the move you can come along to our office in advance and collect a form for completion and bring it back when the move is about to go ahead or after the move has taken place.

We can only take this information from you within 7 days of the move as things may change with regards to exchange of contracts if we take it too far in advance.

If you can't pay the installments as shown on your bill, we may be able to make a special arrangement to pay. Contact us on 01925 443210.

You can come in to see us at Contact Warrington on Horsemarket Street to discuss how we maybe able to help.

You can also contact the Citizens Advice Bureau for help, or: 

Warrington Community Law Centre, The Boultings, Winwick Street, Warrington WA2 7TT
Tel: 01925 258360
Open: Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm  

Money Advice
Write to: Bank House, Sankey Street, Warrington WA1 1SF 
For appointments telephone: 0800 252627
Open: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm

You must pay your council tax in accordance with the instalments shown on your bill to avoid recovery action.

Recovery will take the following course if payment dates and amounts are not met:

1. If you miss an instalment we send you a reminder letter.
2. If you pay by the date requested on the reminder and then keep all your remaining instalments up to date, no further action will be taken.
3. If you do not pay as stated on the reminder and by the date requested, it will mean that you are no longer entitled to pay by instalments and we will send you a Final Notice to pay the balance in full. You should contact us on 01925 443210 to make an arrangement if you are unable to pay in full. The concession we offer at Final notice stage is to request you bring your account up to date if it is in arrears and then we allow an arrangement to be made which is equivalent to your instalments being reinstated but they must now be paid by Direct Debit and this Direct Debit must remain in place for the remainder of the year.
4. If you pay in full within 7 days or contact us to set up a Direct Debit, we will not take any other recovery action. It is not enough just to bring your instalments up to date after you have received a Final Notice.
5. If you do not pay in full after you have received a Final Notice and have not agreed a special arrangement with our office, we will send you a Magistrates’ Court summons which will cost you £70.
6. At the Magistrates Court we will ask for a Liability Order to be granted.

No. Although this is an official Court Summons, it does not affect your credit rating in any way. It simply gives Warrington Borough Council the powers to recover the debt if you were to continue failing to pay the bill.

The Liability Order gives us the power to make an attachment to your earnings if you work or benefits if you don’t, at a rate set by the government. It also allows us to pass the debt to bailiffs to collect payment or seize your goods. The bailiffs can then auction the goods to pay the rates bill and their fees. You will be charged for the visit by the bailiffs even if you are not in when they call.

No. There is no need for you to attend court. The Magistrate will grant the Liability Order and we will then write to you asking you to provide us with details of your income. If you do not provide this information to us as the court has requested, the court can fine you up to £1000.

No. Unfortunately as the debt has now been passed to an outside collection agency, we can no longer accept the payments directly at our office. You will need to contact the bailiff dealing with your debt (this will be shown on the letter we sent to you regarding the referral) to arrange a payment plan.

Warrington Borough Council’s authorised bailiffs are:  

Phoenix Commercial Collections: Tel. 0844 824 3884

AG & M Jacobs: Tel. 0151 650 4800  

Bristow & Sutor: Tel. 0871 677 0070 

Equita Ltd: Tel. 0870 5581581

Marston Group: Tel. 0870 7879555

Your employer will take an amount set by the government which is dependant upon what you earn. This may differ from week to week or month to month if your pay fluctuates or you have worked more hours than usual.

The tables shown may help give you an idea:

Deductions table  

Table A – Deductions for weekly earnings  

Table B – Deductions for monthly earnings 

Table C – Deductions for daily earnings 

The completion notice is a document that specifies the completion day, which is the day on which it becomes a dwelling for council tax purposes.  It is then entered into the valuation list with effect from that date.  

Where the council considers a property is complete or the work remaining to be done on a new building can reasonably be expected to be completed within three months, a completion notice will be served on the owner of the property as soon as it is reasonably practical.  

This avoids any of the uncertainties which could arise if the date of completion were fixed retrospectively, such as who was liable and for how long.