Debt Recovery Guidance for council tax, business rates and sundry debts

Purpose

The Debt Recovery Guidance will ensure that all the procedures for debt recovery are provided consistently, fairly and in a timely manner.

This Guidance will act as a general guide for all Council Officers involved in the collection of income and the recovery of debts. It is to be used in conjunction with more detailed procedural guidance as developed by the individual Service Plans, complying also with changes in ethical best practice and legislative requirements.

The policy will be reviewed annually and updated if necessary.

Executive summary

The Council has a duty to ensure that the debt collection and recovery service is provided economically, efficiently and effectively.

Key elements to achieving this position:

• recognising the impact that uncollected debts have on revenue funding and cash flow; a high level of debt balance means that less cash is available to deliver front line services - this could also lead to the need to increase funding from council tax
• managing its debt balances by improving the efficiency of its income collection - this means looking beyond recovering existing debts to preventing the debts from occurring
• ensuring that the assets of the Council are not artificially inflated by bad debts - it provides for the recovery of arrears to be maximised and that irrecoverable debts are written off
• valuing the consistent and fair treatment of its customers and embedding the principles of equality and diversity across all its services

Performance management framework

The Council recognises that prompt recovery action is fundamental in managing its debts and maximising income. Therefore, the Council will:

• regularly monitor the level and age of debt
• set clear targets for the recovery of debt
• have clear written recovery procedures
• set priorities for specific areas of debt and assess recovery methods to ensure maximum recovery

A report on actual performance against any national or local targets and the level of outstanding debt will be included in the quarterly Performance and Financial Management Report to Members.

Documentation

All documentation relating to an invoice or bill will be kept either in paper or scanned image format until at least 6 years after the invoice or bill is raised. If at the end of this period the invoice or bill remains unpaid, the supporting documentation will be retained under the same principles until the invoice is paid or the debt written off.

General principles

• the intention is to maintain a firm but fair approach to the collection and recovery of the council's debts which distinguishes between those who are unable to pay and those who deliberately won't pay
• the Council supports the use of electronic communication with customers
• we aim to issue prompt and accurate bills
• we will promptly inform customers who fall behind with their instalments or payment arrangement
• we will engage with the customer at every opportunity during the recovery process, in order to discuss and make a suitable repayment arrangement and to avoid further recovery action
• the Council recognises that some people will, due to their individual personal and financial circumstances, have extreme difficulty in paying, and recovery action may not be appropriate where these suggest they or household members may be vulnerable in some way
  • when considering any of the advanced recovery options (such as insolvency, committal to prison and charging orders) in this recovery guidance, the Council will make checks with other Council departments (e.g. Housing Services and our community hub) to establish whether those services have identified that they or any member of their household may be vulnerable in some way
  • the Council will ensure processes are in place to ensure that due regard is given to this group of people

See 13. Appendix A - vulnerability for further information.

The Council's preferred method of payment is direct debit as it is the easiest and cheapest method of collection. However, the Council accepts a wide range of payment types as appropriate to the type and size of the debt. These include credit/debit cards and standing orders.

The Council has tried to make it as easy as possible for customers to pay their bills by offering several convenient options, including:

• payment at the post office (using post office payment card and barcode invoices)
• payment at the bank
• payment over the phone by Council staff during office hours
• payment by our automated telephone service
• payment via our website

Debt recovery

Where legislation permits, the Council will seek to levy and recover from the debtor all costs/fees that are legitimately due from the debtor to the Authority or its agents. Only in exceptional cases, where it would not be in the public interest to pursue costs/fees, will they be waived.

Any enforcement action must be proportional to the debt, consistent in terms of advice given; use of our powers; and the recovery procedures used. The reason for any enforcement actions should be clearly understood by the debtor.

An opportunity must be given to discuss what is required to comply with the law before any formal enforcement action is taken. An explanation of any rights of appeal against formal enforcement action must also be given, prior to or at the time action is taken.

Collection agencies or Enforcement Agents used by the Council must comply with Ministry of Justices' 'National Standards for Enforcement Agents'.

Writing off bad debts

If the debt remains unpaid, after exhausting all the appropriate recovery methods as outlined in this guidance, the council recognises that it is good practice to promptly and regularly write this debt off.

The Council will seek to minimise the cost of write-offs to the local Council Tax payers by taking the necessary action to recover what is due. All debts will be subject to recovery, collection and legal procedures as outlined in this guidance.

Examples of cases where debts may be written off can be for the following reasons. This is not an exhaustive list:

• debt remitted by a Magistrate
• the Council has evidence to confirm the debtor is suffering a severe physical or mental illness which renders enforcement action inappropriate
• the debt is not cost-effective to pursue due to small balance
• the debt is not cost-effective to pursue due to the likelihood of payment balanced against the cost of proceedings
• the claimant has died and there are no or insufficient funds in the estate to settle the debt
• the claimant is subject to formal insolvency proceedings and there is little likelihood of a dividend
• the debt collection agent or enforcement agent states the debt is unable to be collected
• legal representatives state the debt is unable to be collected

In accordance with the Constitution, irrecoverable debts can be written off under the following delegations:

• Council Tax and Benefits Manager and Business Rates and Debt Manager up to £499
• Revenues and Benefits Service Manager £500 to £4,999
• Revenues and Benefits Service Manager in conjunction with Head of Customer Services £5,000 to £9,999
• Head of Customer Services in conjunction with S151 Officer £10,000 to £19,999
• Leader of the Council in conjunction with S151 Officer £20,000 to £49,999
• Cabinet - £50,000 and above

Debts to be written off will be listed in a schedule for the appropriate approval as outlined above on a regular basis.

The schedule will detail the value of each debt, age of the debt, action taken and the reason for the write off request.

If the debt has been written off and a further payment is received, the income must be credited to the appropriate bad debt code. The debt should be reinstated for the balance outstanding. All accounts will be written off against the income code against which they were originally raised.

For sundry debts, the VAT on such write offs will be recovered in accordance with the rules issued by HM Revenues & Customs.

The Council's approach to debt recovery will as much as possible be sensitive to individual circumstances and to consider multiple debts owed.

The Council welcomes the involvement of welfare agencies in connection with debts due and recognises the benefit that these organisations can offer both the debtor and the Council in prioritising repayments to creditors and in maximising the income available to the debtor.

Therefore, the Council is committed to signpost customers to other agencies where it is considered appropriate, such as the Citizens Advice Bureau, DIAL, the National and Business Debtline, the Department for Works and Pensions and the Council's Community Hub (see Section 11).

Hardship

In cases of hardship, the Council will:

• encourage customers to contact them immediately if it is evident that there could be a problem in paying their bills
• advise on any reduction or discount the customer is entitled to and the money advice services available from other agencies
• consider whether the customer needs to complete an income and expenditure form, indicating their reasonable residual income (the Council may request documentary evidence)
• ask the customer if they have any other debts owing to the Council, which need to be considered when deciding on an appropriate recovery arrangement

Set-off debts

The right to set-off debts is allowed providing mutuality exists.

Where the debtor agrees to deal with all the Council debts collectively, the various services will confidentially communicate between themselves the debt outstanding and take a corporate approach in resolving the debt.

Customer care and complaints

All communications with debtors will be conducted in accordance with the Council's policies, particularly Complaints and Data Protection.

Recovery procedures are laid down in statute in The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 and subsequent amendments.

Our aim is to collect the council tax promptly and efficiently to prevent debt and recovery action escalating.

The council believes that preventing arrears from building up is essential and the additional measures we take are as follows:

• we offer four dates for Direct Debit as we recognise that this is a proven method for ensuring payments are made on time
• we offer a choice of payment options that we advertise on all our bills and recovery documents
• we will make arrangements to encourage and support customers in getting back on track with their payments
• we issue reminders promptly to avoid debts escalating
• we provide up to date advice on our website
• we will work closely with Benefits Team to identify entitlement and make sure any awards in payment are up to date
• we will not refuse any payment which reduces the debt. However, if it is less than the requested amount recovery action may continue
• we will signpost customers to debt advice agencies and promote these on our documents and website (see Section 11)

We will apply to the magistrates' court for Liability Orders, when necessary, to recover the debt. This gives additional recovery powers, including:

• attachments of earnings
• attachment of benefits
• taking control of goods using enforcement agents
• charging orders - where liability order exceeds £1,000
• bankruptcy action where liability order debt exceeds £5,000
• committal action on accounts where the value of the debt and/or behaviour of the customer would deem this action appropriate

Committal to prison is taken when other appropriate remedies have been attempted. This action is not taken lightly and is only used as a last resort. Magistrates will hold a means enquiry in which they will establish whether the failure to pay has been the result of 'wilful refusal' or 'culpable neglect'. They may decide to fix a term of imprisonment and postpone the warrant on certain conditions, normally relating to the payment of the debt over a period of time. The Magistrates also have the power to remit all, or part, of the debt. The maximum sentence is three months.

Recovery process and procedures

The recovery process will be in accordance with Council Tax (Administration & Enforcement) Regulations 1992 and subsequent Regulations & Amendments) When a person liable for council tax has not made the due payments, the Council will take the following actions:

1. reminders

If a statutory instalment is not paid, we send a reminder notice giving seven days to bring the instalments up to date.

If the correct amount on the reminder is paid, within the time limit, but instalments fall behind a second time, we send a second reminder. We may issue a maximum of two reminders on an account in any financial year. Therefore, if a person misses an instalment for a third time in the financial year, or if they do not pay the full amount shown on the first or second reminders within the time limit given, the right to pay by instalments is lost and we send a final notice.

2. final/cancellation notices

If a council tax account is in arrears and the right to pay by instalments has been lost, we send a final notice giving 7 days to pay in full.

3. summons

If the final notice remains unpaid, a minimum of 14 days after it has been issued, a summons will be sent which will include additional costs (an amount agreed by Great Yarmouth Magistrates' Court, which is equal to the costs reasonably incurred, currently £75.00). Any increase in costs needs to be notified to the Great Yarmouth Magistrates Court.

At the hearing, the Council makes an application for a Liability Order to be granted.

4. Liability Order

Magistrates grant a Liability Order if they are satisfied that council tax is overdue for payment. The Order gives the Council the power to take further action if the account remains unpaid.

Up to summons stage, all staff can exercise their discretion by allowing a short period for payments to be brought up to date without progressing to the next stage of recovery. Alternatively, they may re-schedule a payment plan to start or finish later. We may place a short-term hold on the account whilst queries regarding discounts, exemptions or benefits are resolved. Staff will, in most cases, agree ongoing interim payments with the customer during the suspension of recovery.

Unless the Council has made a mistake in issuing the summons, proceedings will only be stopped if the debt and costs are paid in full prior to the court date. At this stage, we will still consider arrangements to pay, but this does not stop the application to the court for a Liability Order. Wherever possible, we will
encourage people in arrears to make part payments to reduce the debt. We also try to obtain employment or benefit details so that when we have a Liability Order, we can consider an attachment of earnings or benefit.

The Magistrates can issue a Liability Order whether the debtor attends the hearing or not. We encourage people to contact us as soon as possible before the hearing if they do not agree that they are liable for the debt or dispute the amount shown on the summons.

A Liability Order gives the Council additional powers to recover the unpaid council tax and to demand certain information from debtors that they are legally required to give. The extra powers that we may use include:

• attachment of Earnings Order - this lets us collect the money owed directly from a person's wages
• deductions from benefit - this lets us collect the money owed directly from certain benefits that a person may be in receipt of
• taking control of goods- we instruct enforcement agents to collect the debt
• Charging Orders - if the debtor owns the property where the debt occurred, and if there is sufficient equity in it, we will consider applying for a Charging Order, providing the Liability Order debts are at least £1000.00 and we have fully undertaken the steps as detailed on above
• forcing sale on a charging order - where we have obtained a charging order, we are able to apply to the County Court to recover a debt or to bring an empty property back into use
• bankruptcy - providing the Liability Order debts are at least £5,000
• committal to prison - where Enforcement Agent action has been unsuccessful the Council will consider issuing a committal summons for the debtor to be committed to prison for non-payment

We do not need the debtor's agreement before taking any of the above courses of action.

Once a Liability Order has been obtained in court, the Council will use the methods of recovery appropriate to the individual case having considered the debtor's circumstances and offer to pay.

Charging Orders, forcing sale, bankruptcy and committal to prison are all dealt with on an individual basis and potential cases are considered by the Business Rates and Debt Manager or Recovery Team Leader before being referred to an authorised officer for approval.

Recovery procedures are laid down by statute in The Local Government Finance Act 1988 and subsequent regulations and amendments.

The administration, collection and recovery rests with the Director of Resources.

Non-domestic rates, commonly known as business rates, are levied on a national basis but the local authority is responsible for billing and collection including appropriate recovery measures.

The Council believes that preventing arrears from building up is essential and the additional measures we take are as follows:

• we offer four dates for direct debit as we recognise that this is a proven method for ensuring payments are made on time
• we offer a choice of payment options that we advertise on all our bills and recovery documents
• we issue reminders promptly to avoid debts escalating
• we provide up to date advice on our website
• we will not refuse any payment which reduces the debt - however, if it is less than the requested amount recovery action may continue
• we may make arrangements taking into consideration the fluctuations in income, common to seasonal businesses, and place the emphasis for repayment on times of likely maximum business activity

We will apply to the Magistrates Court for Liability Orders where necessary to recover the debt. We will use the appropriate methods of enforcement available through Liability Orders including:

• taking control of goods, using enforcement agents
• insolvency proceedings
• committal to prison is taken when other appropriate remedies have been attempted
  • Magistrates will hold a means enquiry in which they will establish whether the failure to pay has been the result of 'wilful refusal' or 'culpable neglect'; they may decide to fix a term of imprisonment and postpone the warrant on certain conditions, normally relating to the payment of the debt over a period of time
  • the Magistrates also have the power to remit all, or part, of the debt
  • the maximum sentence is three months

Recovery process and procedures

The recovery process will be in accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1988 and subsequent regulations & amendments)

When a ratepayer liable for non-domestic rates has not made the due payments, the Council will take the following action:

1. reminder

If a statutory instalment is not paid, we send a reminder notice giving seven days to bring the instalments up to date.

If the correct amount on the reminder is paid, within the time limit, but instalments fall behind a second time, then the right to pay by instalments is lost.

2. final notice

If a business rate account is in arrears and the right to pay by instalments has been lost, we send a final notice giving 7 days to pay in full.

3. summons

If the final notice remains unpaid, a minimum of 14 days after it has been issued, a summons will be sent which will include additional costs (an amount agreed by the Magistrates' Court, which is equal to the costs reasonably incurred, currently £75.00). Any increase in costs has to be authorised through the Magistrates Court.

Unless the Council has made a mistake in issuing the summons, proceedings will only be stopped if the debt and costs are paid in full prior to the Court date. At this stage, we still make arrangements to pay but this does not stop the application to the Court for a Liability Order. We will not refuse part payments to reduce the debt.

4. Liability Order

Once the council has obtained a Liability Order to back the debt, we may initiate a range of remedies to recover unpaid rates including:

• enforcement agent action - if the debtor has failed to make and maintain an agreed payment plan, we can instruct Enforcement Agents to recover the debt; in a process known as Taking Control of Goods, Enforcement Agents may seize and sell goods to the value of the outstanding debt, plus their fees - the additional charges involved are quite considerable and the debtor is held liable for them
• insolvency action - we may petition for bankruptcy or for the winding up of a company, depending on whether the debtor is an individual or a company
• committal to prison (individuals only) - where enforcement agent action has been unsuccessful the Council will consider issuing a committal summons for the debtor to be committed to prison for non-payment -this action would only be taken as a last resort

Up to summons stage, all staff can exercise their discretion by allowing a short period for payments to be brought up to date without progressing to the next stage of recovery. Alternatively, they may re-schedule a payment plan to start or finish later, provided the Council's position is not adversely affected and past payment performance indicates that the outcome is likely to be successful.

We always make it clear to ratepayers that recovery action will not be suspended pending any appeal they may have made to the Valuation Office Agency.

Insolvency and committal to prison are all dealt with on an individual basis and potential cases are considered by the Business Rates and Debt Manager or Recovery Team Leader before being referred to an authorised officer for approval.

Sundry debtors

Ownership of all sundry debts rests with the originating Service. These Services will be responsible for issuing an instruction to cancel an invoice and to correspond with or discuss with the debtor issues relating to validity of the debt.

Raising invoices

All invoices raised must be properly supported by documentary evidence that supports the debt.

Invoices must not be raised for debts less than £15, unless contractually obliged, as it is deemed uneconomical to raise and process invoices for less than this amount. The Council should look to collect income under this limit by other means, such as payment in advance. In certain circumstances where the individual amounts are small and the only means of collection is to raise an invoice, then it is acceptable to accumulate the charges until this limit is exceeded.

Officers must ensure that invoices are raised promptly. The council will aim to raise the invoice within 10 working days of delivering the service or goods or funding or of the commencement of the period where the service covers a period of time.

Where a continuing supply is involved, invoices should be issued periodically, within 10 working days of the end of each period or, if payment in advance is appropriate, 10 working days in advance of the end of the period. The timing on invoices needs to consider the Council's legal obligations under relevant legislation.

The Council's sundry debt system will be used to raise all the Council's sundry debt invoices and subsequent reminder letters. Invoices will be issued with the appropriate contact details. Where the service has been provided to a different address from the billing address this will be made clear on the invoice by way of an alternative address box or additional narrative.

Credit notes & account adjustments

Credit notes will be:

• supported by evidence that validates the reason for reducing or cancelling a previous amount invoiced
• authorised by the appropriate Manager to cancel an incorrect invoice, before re-invoicing correctly
• applied to, or reduce the balance of, the invoice it was raised against only

A credit note must not be used as a method to write off debts, as to write off a debt is subject to a detailed process as set out in Section 4.

Any adjustments required to a debtor account should be processed within 10 working days of the Business Rates and Sundry Debt Team being given the appropriate correspondence.

Terms and conditions

All Invoices must request payment immediately/within 28 days, and should never exceed this, unless a contract supersedes this condition.

Returned invoices

All invoices/reminders returned by post stating 'gone away' or 'addressee not known' will be recorded as such on the Sundry Debts System. The Business Rates and Sundry Debt Team will then go through a gone away checklist to see if it can be re-billed to a new address or consider write off. Further information on a current address may be available from the originating Service

Depending on the debt level, the Business Rates and Sundry Debt Team can consider referring such 'gone away invoices', to a Tracing Agent.

If, subsequently, no forwarding address is found the invoice should follow the procedure to be written off, 4. Debt recovery and write offs.

Disputed invoices

If the Business Rates and Sundry Debt Team receives notification that the customer disputes the invoiced amount, then a hold marker will be placed on that account and the originating Service will be informed within 10 working days of the date the dispute is raised.

Recovery will be withheld on these disputed invoices for a maximum of four weeks, to allow the originating service to resolve the issue. This may in limited circumstances be for a longer period if the originating Service is maintaining an ongoing dialogue with the debtor.

If the originating Service doesn't respond to a disputed invoice after four weeks, it should be escalated to the Head of Service for resolution.

Collection & Recovery

The collection of income in respect of invoices raised must follow a standard course, which fully documents on the Debtors System the efforts made to settle the debt.

If no payment is received within the stated terms, the Business Rates and Sundry Debt Team will commence its recovery procedures, which begins with a first stage reminder letter, giving a further 7 days' notice.

After the lapse of the 14 Days of the Reminder Notice a further Final Notice will be sent giving a further 7 days to pay.

At the end of the Final Notice Period, Service Areas will be provided with a list of cases that require further recovery action. These lists will be updated monthly and the action taken will be determined by the Recovery Team unless an alternative action is agreed with the Service Area first. If there is any delay in advising what this further recovery action is by the Service Area then it will be escalated to Heads of Services.

The recovery routes may include:

• further contact with the debtor via telephone, letters, e-mails or a personal visit to settle the debt
• referring the debt to a Debt Collection Agent
• Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery
• suspending the future service to the debtor, where legally permissible
• issuing a summons for the debt to be recovered via the County Court using statutory methods such as attachment to earnings, charging order, third party debt order or insolvency proceedings
• legal proceedings for the forfeiture of leases

Instalment arrangements can be made at all stages of recovery, they will be monitored, and reminders will be sent out within 14 days of the customer falling into arrears. Instalments will then be withdrawn if the account is not brought up to date within a further 14 days.

Correspondence will advise the customer of further enforcement action, refer to any statutory interest (if applicable), under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations, that the debtor is liable to pay if the payment does not meet our agreed terms and conditions, and any interest that will accumulate from the date of the correspondence.

The Business Rates and Sundry Debt Team will provide reports to the originating service on a regular pre-agreed basis as to the value and age of their outstanding debt. A high-level summary of aged sundry debts for each service area will be reported to Senior Management Team in the Annual Debt Report to members.

These are recovered in accordance with Housing Benefit Regulations 2006.

Overpayments occur because a customer has been paid too much benefit and so the Council's aim is to try and prevent this from happening. We have the following measures in place:

• customers being supported through the application process to ensure they are paid the right amount of benefit
• the use of leaflets, website & letters to reinforce customer's responsibility to notify us immediately of any changes in circumstances which are then dealt with promptly

Once a Housing Benefit overpayment has been created the Council will normally collect from on-going housing benefit where it is in payment. Recovery rates are set by Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and, initially, we will always apply the maximum recovery rate permissible. Staff have the discretion to reduce the recovery rate or suspend deductions if the customer can show that this would cause unreasonable hardship, for instance, where a customer is unable to pay their rent.

Where there is no on-going housing benefit we will issue an invoice for payment. A customer has one month to pay before further recovery action. To prevent recovery action, we:

• offer a wide choice of payment options
• encourage and support customers to make an arrangement
• provide up to date advice on our website
• do not refuse any payments which reduces the debt - however, if it is less than the requested amount recovery action may continue

 If after one month the invoice remains unpaid and no arrangement has been agreed, then a first reminder will be sent giving 7 days to pay. If no payment or contact is made within a minimum of 7 days, then a second reminder is sent giving a further 7 days to pay. If the debt remains unpaid, we will consider taking the following actions:

• deduction from certain DWP benefits
• by applying to another local authority for them to deduct from the customer's on-going housing benefit
• recovery from their landlord where the landlord is now being paid for a current tenant
• direct earnings attachment
• applying to the County Court
• use debt collection agencies to recover on our behalf

Some benefit overpayments are not recoverable. These arise if we or the DWP, make an error where the customer to whom the benefit was paid, cannot reasonably have been expected to know they were receiving benefit to which they were not entitled.

Breathing Space, the Government's new debt respite scheme was introduced 4 May 2021 to give those facing financial difficulties space to receive debt advice, or mental health crisis treatment, without pressure from creditors or mounting debts.

Under the scheme, people will be given legal protections from their creditors for 60 days, with most interest and penalty charges frozen, and enforcement action halted. They will also receive professional debt advice to design a plan which helps to get their finances back on track.

And recognising the link between problem debt and mental health issues, these protections will be available for people in mental health crisis treatment - for the full duration of their crisis treatment plus another 30 days.

As with all creditors, Great Yarmouth Borough Council follows guidance issued by the Insolvency Service Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space) - guidance for creditors in the administration of this scheme.

DIAL
Kingside, 26/27 King Street, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, NR30 2NZ
Visit the DIAL website.
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 01493 856 900

Citizens Advice
The Place, 37/39 Market Pl, Great Yarmouth NR30 1LU
Visit the Citizens Advice website for self-help information and national webchat or email service.
Telephone: 0800 144 8848

National Debtline
Visit the National Debtline website.
Telephone: 0808 808 4000

Money Advice Service
Visit the Money Advice Service website.
Telephone 0300 500 5000

This guidance will be reviewed on a regular basis and in line with any changes in legislation. Minor alterations to the guidance will be approved by the Revenues and Benefits Manager. Any substantive alterations to the content of the guidance will be approved by Head of Customer Services.

Vulnerability Criteria

A failure to maximise collection of Council Tax and Business Rates will potentially put Council services at risk and increase the likelihood that Council Taxpayers and Ratepayers who do pay on time will have to subsidise nonpayers through future increases in the level of Council Tax.

The Council recognises that some taxpayers and ratepayers will, due to their individual personal and financial circumstances, have extreme difficulty in paying their Council Tax and Business Rates, and where a particular recovery action is being considered, it may not be appropriate where these suggest the taxpayer, ratepayer or other household members may be vulnerable in some way.

When considering any of the advanced recovery options (such as insolvency, committal to prison or charging orders) the Council will make checks with other Council departments (e.g. Housing Services) to establish whether those services have identified that the charge payer or any member of their household may be vulnerable in some way. The Council will ensure processes are in place to ensure that due regard is given to this group of taxpayers' and ratepayers.

A person may be considered vulnerable in the following circumstances. The list is not exhaustive, and each case will be decided on its own merits:

• the person is seriously ill or mentally or physically disabled
• the person has communication or learning difficulties
• the person has young children and where there is severe deprivation
• the person has recently been bereaved
• the person has difficulty in understanding written or spoken English

Falling into one of these categories does not automatically mean that recovery action is not appropriate. The Council will make individual decisions based upon the individual circumstances of the taxpayer or ratepayer to identify if recovery action is appropriate and, if so, what action to take.

The Council will only apply different recovery methods simultaneously when legislation allows us to do so, and the combined actions provide the most effective recovery action to take. Different recovery methods can be applied subsequently if a debt remains outstanding. The choice of recovery action is made at the discretion of the Council's Officers and will take into account the tax payers and rate payers circumstances on a case-by-case basis within this guidance.

The Revenues Team may become aware of vulnerable ratepayers and taxpayers following contact from the taxpayer, ratepayer or their representative or once recovery action is instigated. Alternatively, this information may become available from other internal systems used by the Council, from other service lines or from other support agencies.

Where the enforcement agent on visiting the taxpayer or ratepayer has vulnerability concerns, he is required to follow their vulnerability procedures and if necessary, return the Liability Order to the Council.

We have made every attempt to ensure the accuracy of the information provided. It is provided on an "as is" basis and may be updated as and when minor changes are required
Great Yarmouth Borough Council will ensure that debts are recovered consistently, fairly and in a timely manner to maximise income for the provision of services, whilst having regard to the social welfare of our customers.