The Non-Domestic Rating (Collection and Enforcement) (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 1990

Joint owners and occupiers: enforcement

4.—(1) Part III of the principal Regulations (enforcement) shall have effect, with the following modifications, for the recovery of a sum for which persons are liable under Part II of those Regulations as applied by regulation 3 above.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3) a reminder notice shall be served in accordance with regulation 11(1) and (2) of the principal Regulations on every person against whom an application for a liability order is to be made.

(3) A reminder notice need not be served on a person who has been served under regulation 8(1) of the principal Regulations (whether jointly or severally) with a notice in respect of the amount concerned where there has been such a failure by him as is mentioned in regulation 8(2)(a) of those Reglations in relation to the notice.

(4) Regulation 3(3) to (6) above applies to a reminder notice as it applies to a notice under Part II of the principal Regulations.

(5) A liability order may be applied for and made against one or more of the owners or occupiers concerned in respect of an amount to which regulation 3(2)(b) applies (or pursuant to regulation 6(1) of the principal Regulations is assumed to apply), whether they have been served with a notice in espect of the amount jointly or severally.

(6) Where a liability order has been made against more than one person in respect of an amount, subject to paragraph (10) distress may be made against one or more of them.

(7) Where distress has been made against more than one person in respect of an amount, a warrant of commitment may be applied for at any time against one of them or different warrants may be applied for against more than one of them.

(8) Where distress has been made against one person only, a warrant of commitment may be applied for against that person.

(9) Where a liability order has been made against more than one person in respect of an amount, and a warrant of commitment is issued against (or a term of imprisonment is fixed in the case of) one of them under regulation 16(3) of the principal Regulations, no steps, or no further steps, may be aken against any of them by way of distress, bankruptcy or winding up in relation to the amount mentioned in regulation 16(4) of those Regulations.

(10) Where a liability order has been made against more than one person in respect of an amount —

(a) subject to regulation 5(6), steps by way of distress, commitment, bankruptcy or winding up may not be taken against a person in respect of the amount while steps by way of another of those methods are being taken against him in respect of it, and

(b) subject to paragraph (11) and regulation 5(4), steps by way of distress may not be taken against a person in respect of an amount whilst steps by way of distress are being taken against one of the others in respect of it.

(11) Where a liability order has been made against more than one person in respect of an amount and in making distress against one of them goods jointly owned by him and another of them are found, paragraph (10)(b) does not preclude distress being levied against those goods with respect to that aount; but in any subsequent proceedings under regulation 16 of the principal Regulations (commitment), charges arising under Schedule 3 to those Regulations from such a distress shall be treated as charges relating to the person against whose goods the levy was intended to be made when the jointly owned goods were found, and not as charges relating to the other.

(12) Where a liability order has been made against more than one person in respect of an amount, paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 3 to the principal Regulations shall have effect so that if a charge has arisen against one of them under head B of the Table to paragraph 1 of that Schedule as regards a ley in respect of it, no further charge may be aggregated for the purposes of regulation 14(2) of those Regulations under heads A or B in consequence of any subsequent levy or attempted levy against any of them in respect of the amount; and if a charge has arisen under head A against one of them, itshall be treated as a charge under that head with respect to the others as well as that one for the purposes of the calculation of any subsequent charge under heads A or B against any of them.

(13) Where a liability order is made against one person in respect of an amount, and also against another person or persons (whether at the same time as the order against the first mentioned person or subsequently and whether in respect of all or part of that amount), the order made as respects al but the relevant person shall not include under regulation 12(6)(b) or (7) of the principal Regulations any additional sum in respect of the costs of obtaining the order against the other or others, but they (with the relevant person) shall be treated as jointly and severally liable for the amout included in the order against the relevant person in respect of costs, and the order against them shall (as regards regulations 12(6)(b) or (7) of those Regulations) be made in respect of the sum outstanding in relation to it; and for this purpose the relevant person is the person against whom the liability order was first made in respect of the amount, or if there are more than one such, such one of them as the court considers appropriate.

(14) Paragraph (13) is not to be construed as permitting a charging authority to apply under regulation 12(2) of the principal Regulations for a liability order against a person in respect of costs alone after an order has been made for those costs against another person.