An improved 24-hour payment system is on the way for anyone wishing to pay for key Somerset Council services online or over the phone.

From 5 December, residents will be able to pay for the following services over the phone at any time of the day, 7 days a week using the new automated system:

• Council Tax
• Business rates
• Housing and garage rents
• Parking fines

Once the new system is in place, there will be no need to wait in a queue and customers will use their phone’s keypad to enter their payment details.

The system will also allow people to pay invoices, for example paying for a Somerset Lifeline subscription.

Customers will be transferred to the new system, known as Touch Tone, when they call from Thursday 5 December.

Other ways to pay – including Direct Debits, standing orders, bank transfers, or by visiting a Pay Point or Post Office – will continue as before.

Alongside the updates to the phone payment line, Somerset Council’s online payment system will also be upgraded. Payments for other types of services will need to be completed online.

To prepare for the switchover, Somerset Council’s current phone and online payment systems will be unavailable from Tuesday 26 November to Wednesday 4 December.

During this time customers will still be able to pay in the following ways:

• Bus gates and parking penalties by bank transfer
• Invoices by bank transfer
• Council Tax, housing and garage rents, Business Rates at the Post Office or a Pay Point. Setting up a Direct Debit is recommended to make future payment easy.

Customers will need to use a valid reference number to make the payment.

Councillor Federica Smith-Roberts, Lead Member for Communities, Housing and Culture, said:

Our customer service team take more than 30,000 payments a year and it’s important that we have a service that meets the needs of residents and the council.

The new improved payment system means people will be able to make some of the most important and frequent payments, 24/7 throughout the year rather than having to wait on the phone for a member of staff.

Moving to one modern payment system means that customers can pay at a time convenient to them.

The quickest and easiest way to pay for most council services is online. Residents can pay via the ‘Popular pages’ on the Council’s website or by selecting the option to ‘Make a payment’ on the Contact us page. When the payment system re-opens customers will be transferred to the new platform.