Pay your property rates

Direct Debit is the easiest way to pay

Direct debits can streamline your financial management and help ensure timely payments with minimal effort.

1. Convenience: Direct debit automates your payments, so you don't have to worry about missing due dates or making manual payments each month. This can save you time and hassle.
2. Avoid late fees: Since payments are automatically deducted from your account, you're less likely to miss a payment and incur late penalties.
3. Budgeting: Direct debits can help with budgeting because they are regular payments either monthly or quarterly, making it easier to plan your finances.
4. Consistency: Payments are made on the same date each month or quarter, which helps maintain consistency in your financial commitments.
5. Control: You maintain control. You can cancel your direct debit, change the frequency, add another property, or transfer an existing direct debit to a new property.

Direct debit payment options

If the due date falls on a non-business day, the payment will be made on the evening of the next business day.

• Monthly payments are made on the 15th of every month.
• Quarterly payments are made on the due date of the instalment.

When you join the direct debit system you will receive a letter confirming your bank account details, commencement date and frequency of your payments. Your rates instalment notice will inform you of the amounts and due dates for the payment of rates.

On payment days, the money you owe will be automatically paid out of your bank account. All transactions will show up on your regular bank account statement. The Council will amend the amounts debited from your account each year without further action on your part. You will be notified of all changes in advance.

Changing your direct debit

You can change your direct debit by contacting us. 

If the only detail being changed is the suffix, you can email DirectDebits@ccc.govt.nz with your new account details.

When changing bank accounts, a new direct debit form needs to be completed, signed and sent to us for action. We need this form no later than four working days before the payment is due.

Other changes you can make include:

• Cancel your direct debit
• Change the frequency of your direct debit
• Add another property to your direct debit
• Transfer an existing direct debit to a new property

With internet banking and automatic payments, you can choose the amount and frequency of rates payments. 

Internet banking or automatic payments details

Our bank account details:

• Bank: Bank of New Zealand
• Account name: Christchurch City Council
• Bank account number: 020800 0044765 01
• SWIFT/BIC Code: BKNZNZ22XXX (for overseas payments)

Please provide the following information when paying your rates through internet banking:

• Particulars: Reference number of the property (this can be found on the top right-hand corner of your rates instalment notice and starts with 73......)
• Code: Your address
• Reference: Your name

This information is required to ensure that the payment is credited to the correct rates account. To identify your property's reference number you can search for your rates and valuations.

The reference number belongs to the property so if you sell a property and purchase a new property the reference number needs to be changed for the new property before you next pay rates.

Ensure that the full amount of the instalment is paid by the due date. If you miss a due date a 10% penalty will be applied to any amount not paid.

Pay by cash or Eftpos and we can give you a receipt.

You can pay your rates in person at any Council Service Centre.

Please note that we can no longer accept payments by cheque.

Phone banking is a service provided by a bank or other financial institution that enables you to perform a range of financial transactions over the phone, without the need to visit a bank branch or automated teller machine.

To set up phone banking

To set up phone banking contact your bank to set up phone banking.

If you pay by phone banking on the due date, we will treat the payment as received on time.

Important tip

Banks have different cut-off times for processing transactions. Pay before 5pm on the due date to avoid a penalty.

Payment of overdue rates is applied to the oldest outstanding amount and not the instalment currently due.

We can discuss options of repaying your overdue rates over a period of time or how to reduce your rates bill, such as rates remissions.

If a suitable arrangement cannot be made to pay the arrears Council will consider other means to collect the outstanding debt. This can include contacting the mortgage holder, or other debt collection methods.

Rates penalties

• A charge of 10% will be applied to any portion of the current instalment not paid on or before the due date shown.
• Additional charges of 10% are added on 1 October and 1 April each year to the amount of rates and additional charges that remain from previous rating years.
• Please note that the penalty percentage shown above is for the current rating year. However, the penalty percentage is reviewed each year and is subject to change.  The actual penalty percentage charged in future years may be different. The Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 allows for the penalty percentage to be up to 10%.

The Council acknowledges that the occasional lapse is possible. It is with this in mind that the Council is willing to waive one penalty every two years for residential and business properties.

To apply for a penalty to be waived you can either apply online for a rates penalty remission or visit one of our Service Centres.

You must pay any outstanding rates before the penalty will be waived.

Refund policy

If you have paid for the same property more than once from the same credit or debit card you can request a refund online.

In order to process your refund, you will need to provide proof of payment. If the refund request is accepted we will refund back to the originating card.