Council tax text messaging, email and telephone contact

The Council Tax Service will send text messages, emails and recorded voice messages to you if your Council Tax account falls into arrears. We may also call you to help set up a payment plan. Voice messages and phone calls may happen in the evenings and at the weekend.

Whilst this service is offered to prevent customers falling further into arrears, it should not be relied upon and may not always be available. It is your responsibility to maintain the instalments due on your account, failure to do so will result in further action being taken.

How to confirm contact claiming to be from the London Borough Of Barnet is legitimate

When we contact you about your Council Tax bill:

• phone calls will come from 020 8359 2000
• emails will come from LondonBoroughofBarnet@sdbt-mail.com or noreply@info.barnet.gov.uk
• text messages will show as coming from LBBarnet: they will contain a verification link to a page at gsys.io. This message is from Barnet Council Tax and is safe to follow. Once you follow the link you will be asked to provide your postcode to confirm your identity before details of your Council Tax are provided.

For data security reasons text messages will never include any of your Council Tax information. 

If you are concerned please complete the general council tax enquiry form and we will address any concerns you have.

Why we send these messages

These messages are sent prior to the Council Tax Service starting proceedings to collect an outstanding sum. This may be prior to sending a reminder notice or something more serious such as instructing enforcement agents to collect your debt. This service can prevent statutory recover documents being issued and may help customers avoid paying expensive costs by prompting you for payment.

You will need to follow the instructions within the text message, as the council is unable to accept responses via text message.

Make sure your information is accurate

The council uses the information you have provided to us when sending out reminders. It is therefore important that you ensure we are kept up to date with your current contact details.

You can inform us of changes to your contact details here by completing the general council tax enquiry form.

You will not receive marketing information

The council has implemented this service to help with the assessment and collection of outstanding tax. Where it is appropriate the council may utilise this text messaging facility to provide important service updates, in relation to statutory services we provide.

We will not send you promotional materials or pass your details onto 3rd party marketing organisations. However, the council is under a duty to protect the public funds it administers, and may use the information you provide for the prevention and detection of fraud. We may also share this information with other bodies as legally allowed to do for auditing or administering public funds for these purposes. For more information on your privacy and rights see our privacy notices page.