Vulnerable Customers

Rotherham Council is required to collect Council Tax from its residents to ensure that income is maximised and available to fund the delivery of services to the people of Rotherham.

It is inevitable that the Council will be required to pursue the recovery of arrears from customers who might experience difficulty in paying. We are committed to ensuring that people in genuine financial difficulty are supported to claim any benefits they are entitled to and are given fair opportunity to pay any amounts they are liable for.
 
The Council is equally committed to supporting customers who may be classed as 'vulnerable' to manage their financial affairs effectively, including the payment of debt. Customers may be classed as 'vulnerable' for a variety of reasons. These include, but are not limited to: -

• Mental disability
• Serious long-term or acute illness
• Fragility due to advanced age or disability
• Existence of genuine and clear barriers to communication, e.g. language difficulties, hearing impairments, visual impairments and learning difficulties

If you believe that you are vulnerable, or you are acting on behalf of someone who is vulnerable, please let us know. This will ensure we can deal with you case sensitively and appropriately.

We can also provide

• Advice on Council Tax Benefits
• Advice on Council Tax Discounts and Allowances
• Details of agencies who can give further appropriate financial help / advice
• An opportunity to discuss and make a realistic arrangement to clear any debt outstanding

Where necessary we will also make referrals to appropriate agencies to ensure customers get the help and support they need. 
For further help please contact us in the first instance on Telephone: (01709) 336070 or call at one of our Customer Service Centres.

Last updated 30/03/2011