Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

  1. What can I do in DRS Online?

    1. Change my drainage rating account details and take greater control of my personal data
    2.  
    3. Manage the land that I pay drainage rates on and advise you of any occupancy changes
    4.  
    5. View and print copies of my drainage rate demand and other official notices, for current and previous financial years
    6.  
    7. Pay my drainage rates by paypal and/or by credit/debit card, or
    8.  
    9. Sign up to pay my drainage rates by direct debit and claim any settlement discount due
    10.  
    11. Export my drainage rating data, so it can be used with third party software
    12.  
    13. Complete and then send you my Voting Paper to Elect IDB Members
  2. Great, so how do I go about registering to use this service?

    1. To register to use this service you must pay drainage rates to any one or more of the following Internal Drainage Boards (IDB): Broads IDB, East Suffolk Water Management Board, King’s Lynn IDB, Norfolk Rivers IDB, Pevensey and Cuckmere Water Level Management Board, South Holland IDB or Waveney, Lower Yare and Lothingland IDB. 

    2. Please have your 7 digit Account ID ready, as shown at the top of your Rate Demand (e.g. 12-3456-7). Go to the DRS (Drainage Rating System) website: https://drs.wlma.org.uk/ and click on the ‘Register’ button.

    3. Enter your Account ID and click on the ‘Search’ button. If you have more than one account, please enter your main account or the account you want to display initially when signing-in to DRS Online in future (we can add any other accounts you may have later).

    4. Complete the form and then click on the ‘Register’ button at the bottom of the screen. To register you must confirm that you’re at least 16 years of age, agree to our Terms and Conditions of Use and our Privacy Policy, and that you understand why we hold your personal data. You can change your contact preferences any time after registering.

    5. After you’ve successfully completed the Registration Form and clicked on the ‘Register’ button, you will be sent an email from us, confirming receipt of your request to access DRS Online. If you haven’t received this email, please check your spam bin. If it’s not there, please contact the office. We will check your email address and re-send you this confirmation email.

    6. We will then contact you and authenticate your application to use DRS Online. If you have other accounts that you would like to manage using the same login credentials, please let us know and we will then add your other drainage rating accounts to your registration details, whilst we are authenticating your registration request. You will then be able to manage all of your drainage rating accounts in one place, without having to register each account separately, using different login details.

    7. When we’ve checked your identity and approved your application, we will activate your account and send you an activation email confirming the same. If you haven’t received this email, please check your spam bin. If it’s not there, please contact the office within 7 days of registering. We will check your email address and re-send you this email.

      You're now good to go!
  3. How do I access my rating info. after I’ve registered to use this service?

    1. To use this service you must pay drainage rates to any one or more of the Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs) listed in section 2(1) above.

    2. You must also have registered to use the service and your registration must have been activated by the office, after we've confirmed your identity.

    3. Go to the DRS Online website: https://drs.wlma.org.uk/. Enter your User ID and Password and click on the ‘Sign In’ button. You're in!

    4. For the best user experience we recommend you access DRS Online on a PC or iMac using the most up to date Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge web browser with a good Internet connection. DRS will also run on iPads, Surface books, Macbooks and Laptops, but clearly the screen sizes will be smaller.

    5. DRS has been tested with the Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge web browsers, using their most up to date versions with a good Internet connection. Please note that DRS Online may not work properly if you have a poor Internet connection or use an unsupported browser such as Internet Explorer (IE). If you want to complete and then submit a direct debit instruction form to us electronically, you will also need the Adobe Acrobat Reader software installed locally, which is free to use and download.

     

  4. What do I do if I want to change or I’ve forgotten my password?

    1. You can change your password at any time through your DRS Profile, which is accessible by clicking on your Username at the top right hand corner of the sceen.

    2. If you’ve forgotten your password, please go to the DRS Online website: https://drs.wlma.org.uk/ and click on the ‘Forgotten Password?’ hyperlink just underneath the Password box. 

    3. You will then be taken to the ‘Request Password for DRS’ screen. Please enter your User ID and click on the ‘Request’ button. Instructions as to how to reset your password will then be sent to your registered email address. If you haven’t received this email, please check your spam bin. If it’s not there, please contact the office within a day of making this request to reset your password. We will check your User ID and re-send you the instructions.
  5. How do I go about adding or deleting the drainage rating accounts I want to manage?

    1. When you register to use DRS Online, you can only register one Account ID. However, if you have other accounts that you would like to manage using the same login credentials, please just contact the office and we will then add your other drainage rating accounts to your registration, once your request has been authenticated.

    2. You can therefore manage all of your drainage rating accounts in one place, without having to register each account separately using different login details.
  6. How do I change my privacy settings?

    1. You can change if and how we’re able to contact you for non-statutory purposes by managing your own privacy settings in your profile, which you can access at the top right of the screen – click on your name and then select ‘Profile’ from the list. Your contact preferences are shown towards the end of your profile record. Please make your changes and then click on the ‘Update’ button to save.

    2. Please note that you can’t simply opt-out of receiving Drainage Rate Demands in future by electing not to be contacted because we have a legal obligation to maintain a Register of Drainage Hereditaments and to send you your Drainage Rate Demand every year, based on the entries set out in this Register, and, 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.

    3. You will therefore continue to receive your Drainage Rate Demands, Notices of Entry, Notices of Determination, Voting Papers and all other statutory notices by post from us in addition to any of your other contact preferences, because that’s what the law says we have to do.

    4. However, you can tell us how we’re able to contact you about any of our other non-statutory services, by selecting/de-selecting your chosen contact preferences. If you don’t want us to contact you at all about our non-statutory services then you can tell us that by leaving the ’contact me about your other services’ box unticked. We won’t contact you about our non-statutory services, if you tell us that you don’t want us to.
  7. How do I de-activate or freeze my online account?

    1. You can deactivate or freeze your online account at any time by withdrawing your agreement to abide by the WMA Group’s Terms and Conditions of Use or Privacy Policy. You can do this by unticking the appropriate check box in your profile settings. If you think that your DRS Online account has been compromised in any way, you should also contact the office immediately.

    2. Please note that if you decide to withdraw your agreement to the WMA Group’s Terms and Conditions of Use or Privacy Policy you will not be able to continue to access your drainage rating account(s) through DRS Online. Your online account will be de-activated and you will continue to receive your Rate Demands from us by post.

    3. When you de-activate your account you will be sent an email from us, confirming that your online account has been de-activated. If you haven’t received this email, please check your spam bin. If it’s not there, please contact the office within 7 days of de-activating. We will check your email address and re-send you this confirmation email.

    4. If you would like to start using DRS Online again after you’ve withdrawn your agreement to the WMA Group’s Terms and Conditions of Use or Privacy Policy you will need to reactivate your account or re-register from the beginning.

    5. You can reactivate your account by clicking on the reactivation link that we send to you by email at the time when you elected to stop using DRS Online. If you can’t find this email or the reactivation link has expired, then please contact the office and we will reactivate your account for you.
  8. How do I change my drainage rating account details?

    1. If your account name, postal address, telephone number or email address has changed, please let us know.

    2. When you’ve signed-in, please select the account you want to change from your list that appears in the box at the top of the screen on the Account Details tab. If you’ve just got one account, your account details will automatically display as soon as you’ve logged in.

    3. Click on the ‘Edit’ button, make the changes to your account details and then click on the ‘Update’ button. After you’ve done this, you’ll receive an email from us confirming what you’ve changed. If there appears to be a problem, please contact the office quoting your Account ID and the Amendment ID, both of which will be referenced in our email. If you haven’t received this email, please check your spam bin. If it’s not there, please contact the office within 7 days of advising us of the change to your account details. We will check your email address and re-send you this confirmation email.

    4. You can see from the table that appears on the left hand side of the screen at the bottom of the Account Details tab a summary of your land holdings within the drainage district and the balance of any drainage rates due for each rating sub district that your land is in. If this doesn’t look right, please check-out your map and detailed list of land parcels which are shown on the Land tab. Please note that we will only ever show the land we believe you occupy that falls within the drainage district - we will never show any other land you may occupy that is outside the drainage district.

    5. On the Account Details tab you can make a payment by clicking on the ‘Pay Now’ button. You can also print/preview a report in pdf format showing a map of your land in the drainage district with a detailed list of all your land parcels, by clicking on the ‘Print’ button.
  9. How do I manage the land that I pay drainage rates on and advise you of any changes in occupancy?

    1. If you click on the Land tab, you can see a map showing all of the land that you’re currently paying drainage rates on, with a table below listing each land record shown on the map. Usually your land will be shown on the map as a parcel shaded in red, but sometimes your land may be shown as a red grid spot, if we dont know where the land parcel’s boundary is (please note that the land parcels and grid spots shown on the map are indicative only).

    2. If you want, you can filter your land shown on the map and in the table by Assessment ID, Parish, Rating District, Electoral District, Land Grade or Catchment by using the search filters just above the map towards the top of the screen.

    3. You can display labels for each land parcel by ticking the ‘Include field labels’ check box, just underneath the map. You can also display different boundaries and boundary labels on the map by clicking on the one you want, just under the map (the default boundary that’s displayed will always be the Internal Drainage District boundary).

    4. You can highlight and zoom-in to land parcels and grid spots shown on the map, by either clicking on the land parcel or on the land record shown in the table. You can also zoom-in to/zoom-out of the map by clicking on the Google plus/minus sign (+/-) which appear at the bottom right hand corner of the map.

    5. You can make a payment by clicking on the ‘Pay Now’ button. You can print-out a report in pdf format showing a map of your land in the drainage district with a detailed list of all your land records, by clicking on the ‘Print’ button. You can also export the data shown in the land table to a spreadsheet, by clicking on the ‘Export’ button.

    6. If you’ve sold or given up land in the drainage district that is still shown on your account map, please tell us by selecting the relevant land parcel(s)/grid spot(s) from the Land Disposals tab and then clicking the ‘Send’ button - we’ll get it changed.

    7. If you’ve bought or otherwise acquired land in the drainage district that is not shown on your account map, please tell us by selecting the relevant land parcel(s)/grid spot(s) from the Land Additions tab and then clicking the ‘Send’ button - we’ll get it changed.

    8. After you’ve notified us of a change in occupancy (additions and/or disposals), you’ll receive an email from us confirming receipt of the changes you’ve reported. If there is a problem, please contact the office within 7 days of notifying us of the occupancy change quoting your Account ID and the Land Transfer ID, both of which will be referenced in our confirmation email. We’ll get it sorted.

    9. If your account map’s just wrong, please send us an email advising us of this and attach a map to your email showing all of the land you currently occupy within the drainage district – we’ll get it changed. Alternatively please send us a hard copy by post, for the attention of our Rating/Enforcement Officer, Kettlewell House, Austin Fields Industrial Estate, King’s Lynn, PE30 1PH.
  10. How do I view and print copies of my drainage rate demand and other official notices, for current and previous financial years?

    1. You can view and print copies of your Drainage Rate Demand by firstly selecting the financial year you’re interested in from the list on the left at the top of the Statement tab. All of your financial transactions for that year will then appear in the Statement table below.

    2. You can then print out a copy of your Drainage Rate Demand for that year in pdf format, by clicking on the ‘Print’ button. You can also export your data shown in the Statement table to a spreadsheet, by clicking on the ‘Export’ button.

    3. You can also view, print and download all other official notices that we've sent to you by selecting the financial year you're interested in from the list on the left at the top of the Postbook tab. All official notices for that year will then appear in the Postbook table below. Please just click on the Preview button to view, print and download the official document.
  11. How do I pay my drainage rates by paypal and/or by credit/debit card?

    1. You can pay your drainage rates by clicking on any of the ‘Pay Now’ buttons on the Account Details, Statement and Land tabs, or by going directly to the Make a Payment tab.

    2. You can pay by PayPal or by using Stripe with any recognised UK credit/debit card. 

    3. Please enter the amount you want to pay, select your chosen payment method (PayPal or Stripe) and click on the ‘Pay’ button.

    4. After you successfully pay online, you will be sent an official receipt by email (from us and from PayPal or Stripe). If you haven’t received your receipt from us by email, please check your spam bin and, if it’s not in there, please contact the office within 7 days of making the payment and we’ll re-send you your electronic receipt by email.

    5. After you’ve received an email from us confirming receipt of your payment, if there appears to be a problem, please contact the office quoting your Account ID and the Payment ID, both of which will be referenced in our email. We’ll get it sorted.
  12. How do I sign up to pay my drainage rates by direct debit and claim any settlement discount due?

    1. Firstly you need to download a Direct Debit Application Form from either the Statement tab or the Make a Payment tab. You will need to do this for each Board that you pay drainage rates to. Paper copies can also be sent to you by contacting the office, if you prefer.

    2. After you’ve downloaded the Application Form, please complete your application and return it to us by email or by post, to start paying your drainage rates by direct debit. Again, you will need to do this for each Board that you pay drainage rates to.

    3. You may also be entitled to receive a settlement discount, if you elect to pay all of your drainage rates by direct debit on or before 5th May every year. If you would like any help with either locating or completing this form, please contact the office.
  13. How do I export my drainage rating data, so it can also be used with other software?

    1. You can export the transactions shown on your Statement for the current or previous financial years by firstly selecting the financial year you’re interested in from the list on the left at the top of the Statement tab. All of your financial transactions for that year will then appear in the Statement table below.

    2. Please click on the ‘Export’ button on the Statement tab to create an XLXS file, which can then be opened up and imported into most commonly used spreadsheet applications, such as Microsoft’s Excel and Apple’s Numbers.

    3. You can also export your land records within the drainage district that are shown in the table by clicking on the ‘Export’ button on the Land tab. This Export button will create an XLXS file, which can then be opened up and imported into most commonly used spreadsheet applications, such as Microsoft’s Excel and Apple’s Numbers.
  14. How do I complete and send you my Voting Paper to Elect IDB Members?

    1. You can keep apprised of the Election timetable and ensure that your voting entitlement which appears in the Register of Electors is correct. You can also nominate candidates to stand for election and exercise your vote(s) on time:

    2. You can review your voting entitlement(s) that appear in the Register of Electors for each Electoral Division, which are calculated from the annual values of the land that you occupy in each Electoral Division. You can also let us know if you think that your voting entitlement is wrong during the Register of Electors Inspection period.

    3. You can nominate candidates to stand for election in every Electoral Division where you occupy agricultural land by completing and then sending us your nomination paper.

    4. You can complete and then send us your voting paper for each Electoral Division within which you occupy agricultural land, providing you've paid your drainage rates.

     

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