Your IDB Web Portal allows your Internal Drainage Board (IDB) to collect information about who pays the land drainage rates and who occupies the land the rates relate to.
By completing the Consent Form in Your IDB Web Portal, you are agreeing to receive correspondence electronically, including your annual rates demand, notices, and other updates. Digital communication reduces postage, administration costs, and environmental impact, helping keep drainage rates lower.
If you do not give consent, these documents will continue to be sent by post.
Please note that you cannot opt out of receiving drainage rate demands in future by electing not to be contacted. We have a legal obligation to maintain a Register of properties which are subject to drainage rates to send you your drainage rate demand every year, based on the entries set out in the Register. You have a legal obligation to pay your drainage rates and to inform us of any changes to your land holdings so that we can amend this Register. These obligations are set out in the Land Drainage Act 1991.
If you consent to electronic communication, documents will be emailed to you and a copy will be uploaded to Your IDB Web Portal. The rules and regulations that we follow mean we must send a copy directly to your email address, so please provide an appropriate up to date named email address or team mailbox (e.g. joe.bloggs@example.com or accounts@example.com). To avoid our emails being marked as spam, we recommend whitelisting our domain (visible in your browser's address bar). Your email provider or IT support team can assist if needed.
We collect contact details for both the bill payer and the land occupier related to the drainage rates.
An occupier is the person or organisation that lives on the land, operates a business from it, farms it, or otherwise has primary use or day‑to‑day control of the property. They may not be the owner of the land.
Land may have more than one occupier. This may occur where it is occupied by a couple, a parent and adult child, more than one individual or other similar circumstances.
Where the land is occupied by a single company that is registered with Companies House, it may be regarded as having only one occupier whereas each partner in a partnership is a separate occupier.
Ultimately, if a land drainage rate demand is not paid, the occupier or occupiers of agricultural land or property are responsible for this payment and are the recipients of any notices served. This is why the Internal Drainage Board must know who the occupier or occupiers are and is why it has legal authority to require this information under the Land Drainage Act 1991.
Your information will only be used by the IDB and trusted partners acting on our behalf (such as the Board's solicitors), and only for official Board business. It may also be shared with other organisations which are legally entitled to see it, such as the courts or tribunal services. It will not be used for marketing or commercial purposes.
Internal Drainage Boards are publicly funded organisations. They may be reviewed or investigated by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) or the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. IDBs are supported and guided by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Each Board consists of locally elected members and representatives appointed by local authorities, who oversee and scrutinise its work.
You can provide consent within the portal by ticking the consent box and entering a valid email address.
You can withdraw your consent for us to contact you by email at any time by contacting us by email or telephone. In that case, we will continue to contact you by post.