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ºù«ÍÞapp Borough Council will no longer accept cheques after 31 March 2021.

It currently costs the council £13 to process a cheque – this is sometimes more than the value of the cheque. This compares to 1p to process a Direct Debit (plus £1.75 to set it up). Direct Debits are the simplest way for customers to pay for council services.

Card payments through our automated telephone line cost the council 15p per transaction; this increases to £2.85 for a card payment taken by a Customer Services Advisor.

The removal of cheques as a payment option will help to make an important contribution as the council tries to meet its significant budget challenge.

The council received 7,407 cheques in 2019/20 (3.6 per cent of the total payments received). This number had been falling for several years and dropped to just 360 in 2020/21 (0.3 per cent). This follows a huge increase of online payments and reduction in the use of cash and cheques during the Covid-19 pandemic.

There are several alternative, easy and secure ways to pay for all council services, including rent, Council Tax, business rates, sales invoices, parking penalty charge notices, commercial rents, mortgages and benefits overpayments.

These are:

• By making a
• By calling the automated payments line on 01293 438312, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Customers can call 01293 438000 (option one) between 8.30am and 5pm, Monday to Friday, to speak to a Customer Services Advisor to discuss payments
• Standing order or Direct Debit

Any cheques received on or after 1 April 2021 regardless of the date written on the cheque will not be accepted.

For more details of ways to pay visit our making payments page.