Debt Recovery Officer - Council Tax & Rates (Home Working)

Wokingham Borough; Wokingham; Hybrid; GBP 33,000 - 37,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous Annual Leave 28 days + 5 days

GP Helpline

Employee Assistance Programme

Free Eye Tests

Free Onsite Gym

Salary Sacrifice Car & Cycle to Work

Local & Lifestyle Discounts

Move through Menopause Course

Sports & Social Group Activities

Job summary

Wokingham Borough Council is seeking two Recovery Officers to join the Income & Assessments team on a full-time, permanent basis. You will help maximise income by recovering Council Tax, Business Rates, and other debts, while delivering courteous customer service and flexible repayment arrangements.

You will work with colleagues and external partners to manage a varied workload, maintain records, and apply recovery legislation.

Qualifications

• Good understanding of recovery processes and legislation across Council Tax, Business Rates, Adult Social Care, sundry debt and Housing Benefit overpayments.
• Excellent organisational skills and ability to manage a busy workload to tight deadlines.
• Strong written and verbal communication with residents, businesses and stakeholders.
• Good IT skills and commitment to continuous professional development.
• Experience in revenues or debt recovery; knowledge of NEC (Northgate) and Information@Work; previous Court Officer experience.

Responsibilities

• Proactively recover outstanding Council Tax, Business Rates, Adult Social Care and sundry debts by phone, email and correspondence.
• Progress cases from summons stage, contacting customers and agreeing payment arrangements.
• Review income/expenditure info and discounts/exemptions to support sustainable repayment plans.
• Maintain accurate customer records and monitoring codes; ensure system controls.
• Produce reports and support progress against collection targets; prepare write-offs where appropriate.
• Apply legislation and procedures; collaborate with internal teams, care providers, collection partners and advice organisations.

Skills

Recovery knowledge

Organisation

Communication skills

IT skills

Debt recovery experience

Tools

NEC Northgate

Information@Work

Job description

Wokingham Borough Council is seeking two Recovery Officers to join the Income & Assessments team on a full-time, permanent basis. You will help maximise income by recovering Council Tax, Business Rates, and other debts, while delivering courteous customer service and flexible repayment arrangements.

You will work with colleagues and external partners to manage a varied workload, maintain records, and apply recovery legislation.