Cheque payments

From 1st July 2016 we shall no longer be able to accept cheques as payment either via post or in person at any council office. 

The handling and processing of cheques is an extremely costly method of receiving payments and in order to protect our services and keep our council tax charges down, we need to make savings wherever possible. We are committed to providing the most efficient council tax collection service as possible and as a consequence any cheques received after the 1st July will be returned.

It is our aim to get as many customers as possible to pay using direct debit because it is the cheapest and most efficient method of collection with benefits for both you and us. Currently nearly 70% of our taxpayers pay by direct debit. A direct debit payment costs the council as little as 1p to process as opposed to a cheque which including processing and internal costs can cost the council up to 25p per payment. Additionally the benefits for you the tax payer are:

  • It’s flexible, with a choice of 6 payment dates during the month (1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, and 25th) to suit your convenience.
  • Payments are automatic - helping to keep your payments up to date and avoid reminders, final notices or summons.
  • Refunds are guaranteed in the event of error by the council and the banking system.
  • The direct debit instruction will continue year on year until you decide to cancel the arrangement. There will be no need to complete forms each year or if your annual amount payable changes.
  • It costs us less to process helping keep your council tax lower.

If you would still prefer to not pay by direct debit then we have a range of other convenient methods to pay your council tax bill.

If you have sent cheques regularly to Warwick District Council previously we hope that you will find a convenient alternative method of payment above and we would thank you in advance for your cooperation in helping us to reduce the collection cost to the local taxpayer.