A new online portal has been launched to help Tendring’s residents and firms manage their council tax bills and business rates securely.

Citizen Access has been launched by Tendring District Council (TDC) to assist people in managing their council tax and national non-domestic rates accounts.

The self-service portal provides a real-time view of people’s account and personal information and enables them to make changes and complete tasks at a time that suits them.

Citizen Access is divided into different sections, each allowing you to manage various aspects.

For council tax, you can view your details online, access your bills, sign up for e-billing, amend Direct Debits, report a change of address, and search for a council tax band.

For business rates, you can view your up-to-date account information, check your balance, payments, and bills, switch to paperless billing, update your contact details, and search for a business rates rateable value.

Additionally, a housing benefits service will be available soon.

Councillor Mark Stephenson, TDC Leader, said: "Citizen Access is a significant step forward in making our services more accessible and user-friendly.

“We want to ensure our residents can take advantage of the benefits that emerge as the world becomes a more digitally-focused place.

“Therefore, we would encourage all residents and businesses to make use of this new self-service portal, which enables those who prefer to manage their accounts independently to do so at their convenience.

“We recognise that not everybody has access to technology, so would like to point out that people are not required to use it – and the existing ways of managing council tax and business rates will continue.”

To enjoy all the benefits of Citizen Access, you will need a MyTendring account.

Both Citizen Access and MyTendring meet all required security and GDPR standards set by the Government and will continue to develop to maintain these standards.

To find out how to set up an account, go to www.tendringdc.gov.uk/citizen-access-sign-up or, to begin the process, go straight to My Tendring.

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