Sefton Council Appeals for Residents to Switch to Paperless Billing

Sefton Council is asking people to resolve to go paperless on their online accounts this year and ahead of the next Council Tax billing process.

Almost 23,500 households and businesses in Sefton have signed up for paperless billing, with over 21,000 now signed-up for the online My Account service.

However, facing a printing and postage bill possibly in excess of £250,000 for the coming financial year, the Council is urging more people to go paperless.

As well as being able to sign up to paperless billing, MyAccount enables residents and businesses to access their bills and check their balances, 24 hours a day. Users can also apply for discounts and exemptions and update their payment details instantly without the need to speak to a Customer Services Advisor in the Contact Centre or visit a One Stop Shop.

Cllr Christine Howard, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Corporate Services said:
“While it’s great that we have had so many sign up to take advantage of the convenience provided by our online MyAccount service, around four fifths of Sefton residents are not signed up for paperless.

“This means that the Council will be spending around £1/4 million of our limited funds on printing and postage to send out bills to them, when the process could be relatively cost-free.

“That figure could be used to help pay for vital services for local people and not having to print and post those documents reduce the Council’s carbon footprint, so is good for the environment.”

Although a significant number of Sefton residents have signed up for the online MyAccount service, not all of them have chosen the paperless billing option. 

Cllr Howard added:
“When you sign up for MyAccount it’s as simple as ticking a box to go paperless, so we would ask any current users who’ve not yet done so to log in and update their account today.

“And we’re asking all new users to go paperless from Day One.

“For every 20,000 people registered we would save around £25,000 in postage, which we can use elsewhere to benefit local people.”

To sign up for MyAccount, people can visit www.sefton.gov.uk/myaccount where they can find all the information they need including a step-by-step video taking them through the process.