What information we collect from you

We collect information from you when you fill in one of our forms, or contact us about your property, either in writing, over the phone or face-to-face in our customer contact centre.

We may sometimes obtain information about you from third parties (including previous owners, landlords and estate agents) where the law permits in order to administer and enforce the collection of Council Tax and Business Rates.

The amount and type of information the Council collects for the purposes of billing, collecting and enforcing Council Tax and Business Rates will include;

  • Your name, address, contact details
  • Your email address if you choose to sign up for electronic billing or an online account
  • The people in your household to establish correct council tax charge and eligibility for discounts and exemptions
  • Bank details if you pay by direct debit
  • Your employer
  • If you cannot pay and need to enter into a special payment arrangement we will ask for details about your financial situation.

In some circumstances, we will need more details and sometimes sensitive personal information about your household, personal or business circumstances, for example if you are applying for a discount or exemption for Council Tax or for Discretionary Rate relief for Business Rates.

The information you give us when using our online payment system will only be used for the recording of your payment.

If your property requires a visit that includes face to face contact or an officer entering your property we will ask you to conduct a short telephone Covid-19 checklist beforehand to ensure its safe for our officer to visit. This data will only be used to determine if a visit can take place safely and for no other purpose.

Why we collect and use this information

Council Tax is a statutory tax levied by central government on those responsible for domestic property and is collected locally by the council. If we do not collect data, the council will be unable to fulfil its statutory obligations to collect council tax.

Your personal information is used in order to administer and enforce Council tax and Business Rates under the Local Government Act 1992 and associated Regulations.

The information that you provide will be processed in accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulations

Who do we share the information with?

The Council may share your personal data with partner authorities and service providers for the purpose of administering and collecting council tax. We have a duty to protect public funds and may use your information to perform statutory enforcement duties and data matching for the prevention and detection of fraud and/or crime.

  • The council has a legal duty to submit information to the government as part of the National Fraud Initiative
  • We may also share your data with other agencies or organisations where the law allows us to do so and for the prevention and detection of fraud and/or crime. This includes:
    • Other departments within the council
    • Electoral Services under the Representation of the People Act 1983
    • Other local authorities
    • Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service
    • Department for Work and Pensions
    • Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs
    • ONS - The Office for National Statistics
    • BEIS for the purpose of data collection, monitoring and evaluation for the business government grants
    • DESNZ - The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and any appointed DESNZ contractors - for the purposes of counter fraud, research and evaluation in relation to the Energy Bills Support Scheme.
  • We may also share your data with Warwick District Council's Economic development team for the purpose of keeping you informed of business opportunities, news and local consultations that may be of interest to you. You can opt out of this particular data processing purpose at any time by emailing ecomonic.development@warwickdc.gov.uk
  • In the event of an Avian Influenza outbreak in the area we may share your name, address, postcode and any contact details held on our records with Warwickshire County Council to enable them to manage any outbreaks and to keep you updated. The purpose of sharing these details with them is to complete contact tracing efforts to reduce the spread of Avian Influenza. This will ensure maximum protection of human safety. Personal data will only be shared where necessary to fulfil responsibilities to manage and mitigate the spread and impact of the outbreak of Avian Influenza. Warwick District Council will process your information only where it is necessary and does this to fulfil our statutory duties. The lawful basis we are relying on is public task as information is being shared to carry out a task and mitigate risks relating to Avian Influenza.
  • In the event of a property at risk of severe flooding in the area we may share your name, address, postcode and any contact details held on our records with our Duty Officer to enable them to manage any risks and to keep you updated. The purpose of sharing these details with them is to early warn and inform of an increased risk of flooding to properties. This will ensure maximum protection of human safety and personal property. Personal data will only be shared where necessary to fulfil responsibilities to manage the impact of flooding. Warwick District Council will process your information only where it is necessary and does this to fulfil our statutory duties. The lawful basis we are relying on is public task as information is being shared to carry out a task and mitigate risks relating to severe flooding.

How long we keep your Data for?

Records are kept wherever possible in accordance with the Council's retention policy and we will not keep your information for longer than necessary.

We have implemented new functionality which has enabled us to delete your data in accordance with our retention policy, which says we will keep your data for 6 years after your council tax or business rates account has been closed. If you have a current live council tax or business rates account we will hold your records from 2000 from when our current system started and the old system was decommissioned.

Your rights

You are entitled to request a copy of any information about you that we hold. Any such requests should be made in writing.

If the information we hold about you is inaccurate you have a right to have this corrected and you have the right to request completion of incomplete data.

You have the right to request that we stop, or restrict the processing of your personal data, in certain circumstances. Where possible we will seek to comply with your request, but we may be required to hold or process information to perform our statutory functions.

You have the right to unsubscribe to electronic billing and your online account at any time. To do so please email ctaxenquiries@warwickdc.gov.uk or nndr@warwickdc.gov.uk and we will close your online account and remove your email address from our system for billing purposes. When you unsubscribe to electronic billing or your online account we will revert your council tax or business rates account back to paper billing. Please note if you also have a benefits claim attached to your council tax, opting out for an online council tax account will also unsubscribe you for your benefits online account.

For full details on your personal data rights please see the Council’s main Privacy Notice on www.warwickdc.gov.uk

If you have any worries or questions about how your personal information is handled please contact our Data Protection Officer at DPO@warwick.gov.uk or by calling 01926 456114.

For independent advice about data protection, privacy and data sharing issues, you can contact the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House 
Water Lane 
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a national rate number. Alternatively, visit ico.org.uk or email casework@ico.org.uk. 

Share this page