Guidance

Rural Payments service: registering and updating your details

How to register and update your personal, business and land details on the Rural Payments service.

From:
Rural Payments Agency
Published
10 February 2020
Last updated
613 March 2023 — See all updates

Applies to England

Planned maintenance of the Rural Payments service

There will be times when the Rural Payments service is unavailable because of essential planned maintenance and updates.

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) will aim to minimise the disruption to users by scheduling these planned times for evenings after 6pm, and at weekends. This may not always be possible, but we will try to give as much notice as possible of daytime unavailability.

From To Notes
6pm5pm WednesdayMonday 813 March 9pm9am WednesdayTuesday 814 March The Rural Payments service will not be available.

What is the Rural Payments service?

The Rural Payments service is Defra’s online registration system for farmers, animal keepers and rural traders and businesses.

If you are a farmer, animal keeper, or a rural trader or business, you can use the service to register your details, view digital maps of your land and make online applications and claims for certain rural grants and payments.

It can be used by any person or firm representing a farmer or farming business – such as a firm of agricultural agents.

There is onscreen Help throughout the Rural Payments service which explains how to use it.

You must register in the Rural Payments service if you intend to keep farmed animals (or livestock) on your land or business premises.

Sign in to the Rural Payments service

What you can use Rural Payments for

You can use the Rural Payments service to:

  • register for rural payments
  • update your personal and business details
  • give someone else (like an agent) permission to act on your behalf
  • see and print digital maps of your land parcels
  • apply for a Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) standards agreement
  • submit a Countryside Stewardship (CS) capital claim
  • apply for CS Capital Grants
  • print your CS Farm Environment Record (FER)/Options map
  • print your CS Environmental Information Map (EIM)
  • use the CS Options Finder
  • view your Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) entitlements
  • view your previous year’s BPS claim
  • view land parcel map and information for a date in the past
  • transfer BPS entitlements
  • transfer land
  • request an application pack for CS Higher Tier

You can no longer use the Rural Payments service in 2022 to:

  • apply online for CS Mid Tier
  • apply for the CS Wildlife Offers
  • apply for BPS and view your application summary
  • submit a CS revenue claim
  • request an application pack for CS Mid Tier
  • add or delete common rights
  • update land use

Who has to register

Anyone can choose to register on the Rural Payments service but you must register if you are a:

  • farmer or business claiming rural grants and payments – before you register, check that you’re eligible to apply for rural payments by reading the relevant scheme manual(s)
  • cattle keeper recording animal movements
  • business importing or exporting agricultural products
  • a person or business (like an ‘agent’ or a firm of agents) who intend to act on behalf of another registered business

Getting started

As with many other government services online, you must confirm your identity before you can register for the first time. You can do this by calling the Rural Payments helpline on 03000 200 301 and we will help you register – this will only give you access to the Rural Payments service, not other government services.

After you’ve confirmed your identity, you can sign in to the Rural Payments service and start to register. You will need to create a password.

If you’re already registered with Government Gateway, you still need to register for the Rural Payments service.

Register your personal and business details

When you sign in for the first time you will need to register your personal and business details. The details you register will be the details used to contact you in future.

If you rang us to confirm your identity, we will create your personal profile for you.

Personal details

You will need to register details about you, including:

  • your name
  • your address
  • your email address

Once you’ve registered these, you will receive a Customer Reference Number (CRN) which is individual to you.

Business details

You will need to register details about your business, including:

  • business name
  • business address
  • business email address
  • type of business (sole trader, partnership etc)

If you want the business to receive any rural grants and payments in future, you will need to register bank account details. You can only do this over the phone – call us on 03000 200 301.

Once you’ve registered these, you will receive one or more of the following reference numbers for your business (depending on what sort of business it is):

  • Single Business Identifier (SBI)
  • Trader Registration Number (TRN)
  • Vendor Registration Number (VRN)
  • Firm Reference Number (FRN)

Once you have your reference number(s), you can finish creating your account.

Give someone else permission to act on your behalf

You can give other people access to your business and there are different levels of permission you can give them depending on what you want them to be able to do.

You can only do this if you have full permission yourself and the other person is also registered.

When we send an email to you or your agent, we use the email address held in the Rural Payments service for the person with the relevant permission.

We can only accept an email from a business if:

  • it is from an email address that is registered on the Rural Payments service
  • the person sending the email has the relevant permission for the business and subject they are contacting RPA about

‘My messages’ in the Rural Payments service

You can use the ‘My messages’ screen in the Rural Payments service to see online messages about some transactions.

Message Who will see the online message
BPS online application receipt Everyone with ‘BPS – Submit’ or ‘Business details – Full’ permission
Confirmation of entitlements and/or land transfer Transferor business – the person who transferred the entitlements or land to another business.

Transferee business – everyone with the following permission:

- Business details (Full and Make legal changes)
- Entitlements or Land details (Amend)
- Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) (Amend and Submit)
Permission change The person whose permission has been changed
Land change confirmation (excluding changes notified by customers and changes made following an inspection) Everyone with the following permission:

- Business details (Full and Make legal changes)
- Land details (Amend)
- Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) (Amend and Submit)
- Countryside Stewardship (CS) Application (Amend and Submit)
- Countryside Stewardship (CS) Agreement (Amend and Submit)

Change your business details after you’ve registered

You can change or update the following details online:

  • your contact details
  • simple business details (like your business name)
  • change the people who act on your behalf

Only you can amend your personal details. However, anyone with the correct permission can amend business details.

If the structure of your business is changing, you will need to call us on 03000 200 301 and we will explain what you need to do.

If a registered customer dies, their personal representative should call us on 03000 200 301 and we will explain what they need to do.

Contact RPA

Email ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk

Helpline 03000 200 301

Published 10 February 2020
Last updated 613 March 2023 + show all updates

  1. Downtime for Rural Payments added on 5pm Monday 13 March until 9am Tuesday 14 March

  2. Downtime for Rural Payments added on Wednesday 8 March between 6pm and 9pm

  3. Downtime for Rural Payments added on Saturday 4 March at 2pm until 8pm Sunday 5 March

  4. The Rural Payments service will not be available between 6pm and 9pm on Wednesday 1 March.

  5. The Rural Payments service will not be available between 6pm and 9pm on Wednesday 22 February.

  6. Update to section 'What you can use Rural Payments for'- customers can request an application pack for Higher Tier.

  7. The Rural Payments service will not be available between 6pm and 9pm on Wednesday 8 February.

  8. Text updated to show that the Rural Payments service can be used to transfer land and transfer BPS entitlements.

  9. Rural payments service down time

  10. The Rural Payments service will not be available between 6pm and 6:30pm on Wednesday 25 January.

  11. Downtime for Rural Payments added on Sunday 22 January between 12pm and 9pm

  12. Downtime for Rural Payments added from 5pm Tuesday 17 January until 9am Wednesday 18 January And between 6pm and 9pm Wednesday 18 January

  13. Downtime for Rural Payments added between 6pm and 9pm Wednesday 18 January

  14. Downtime for Rural Payments added between 6pm and 9pm Wednesday 14 December and from 5pm Thursday 15 December until 9am Friday 16 December

  15. add new downtime

  16. Downtime for Rural Payments added on Wednesday 16 November between 6pm and 9pm

  17. Downtime for Rural Payments added from 5pm Wednesday 9 November until 9am Thursday 10 November

  18. New customer registration change. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance from 5pm on Wednesday 26 October to 9am Thursday 27 October.

  19. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance from 6pm to 9pm on Wednesday 12 October.

  20. downtime updated for 5 October

  21. Downtime for Rural Payments added on Wednesday 28 September between 6pm and 9pm

  22. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance from 5pm Tuesday 20 September to 9am Wednesday 21 September.

  23. downtime added for 14/09

  24. updating down time for From 18:00 hrs on Friday 23rd September through to 17:00 on Sunday September 25th

  25. added down time for Wednesday 7 September

  26. Downtime for Rural Payments added from 5pm Tuesday 6 until 9am Wednesday 7

  27. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance from 6pm Friday 19 August to 8pm Saturday 20 August, from 5pm Monday 22 August to 9am Tuesday 23 August and from 6pm to 9pm on Wednesday 24 August.

  28. Removed downtime for Wednesday 17 August, amendment to downtime starting from Friday 19 August.

  29. Downtime for Rural Payments added between 6pm and 9pm Wednesday 17 August and from 6pm Friday 19 August to 12pm Sunday 21 August

  30. Downtime for Rural Payments added between 5pm Friday 5 August until 6pm Saturday 6 August

  31. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance from 5pm Wednesday 3 August to 9am Thursday 4 August.

  32. Update to section about using the Rural Payments service: the service is no longer available to apply for Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier and Wildlife Offers.

  33. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance from 6pm Wednesday 27 July to 9pm Wednesday 27 July.

  34. Downtime for Rural Payments added between 4pm and 7:30pm on Sunday 24 July

  35. Downtime for Rural Payments added between 6pm and 9pm Tuesday 19 July and from 5pm Thursday 21 July until 9am Friday 22 July

  36. Downtime for Rural Payments added between 6pm and 9pm Tuesday 19 July and from 5pm Wednesday 20 July until 9am Thursday 21 July

  37. Downtime for Rural Payments added from 5pm Wednesday 20 July until 9am Thursday 21 July

  38. Downtime for Rural Payments added 6pm Wednesday 13 July to 9pm Wednesday 13 Jul

  39. Downtime for Rural Payments added from 5pm Wednesday 6 July until 9am Thursday 7 July

  40. Downtime for Rural Payments added from 5pm Wednesday 29 June until 9am Thursday 30 June

  41. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance from 5pm Wednesday 22 June to 9am Thursday 23 June.

  42. Downtime for Rural Payments added on Tuesday 14 June between 6pm and 9pm and from 5pm Wednesday 15 June until 9am Thursday 16 June

  43. Section 'What you can use Rural Payments for' updated following closure of Basic Payment Scheme applications and Countryside Stewardship annual revenue claims.

  44. Downtime for Rural Payments added from 5pm Wednesday 8 June until 9am Thursday 9 June

  45. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance from 5pm Tuesday 31 May to Wednesday 9am 1 June.

  46. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance from 5pm Tuesday 31 May to Wednesday 7am 1 June.

  47. Downtime for Rural Payments added from 5pm Tuesday 24 May until 9am Wednesday 25 May

  48. Rural Payments unavailable 7am to 8am Tuesday 17 May

  49. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Wednesday 18 May from 6pm to 9pm.

  50. IMPORTANT: The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Wednesday 11 May from 6pm to 9pm.

  51. Downtime scheduled for Rural Payments

  52. Downtime for Rural Payments added for Wednesday 27 April between 6pm and 8pm

  53. Downtime for Rural Payments added for Wednesday 13 April between 6pm and 9pm

  54. Downtime for Rural Payments added From 5pm Thursday 7 April until 9am Friday 8 April

  55. The Rural Payments service will not be available from 6pm Wednesday 30 March to 9am on Thursday 31 March.

  56. The Rural Payments service is available to apply for the Basic Payment Scheme 2022, submit a Countryside Stewardship revenue claim, and add or delete common rights.

  57. The Rural Payments service will not be available from 6pm to 9pm on Wednesday 16 March.

  58. Downtime added for 6pm to 6:30 PM 9 March

  59. Downtime for Rural Payments added from 5pm Thursday 10 March until 9am Friday 11 March

  60. The Rural Payments service will not be available from 6pm to 7pm on Thursday 3 March.

  61. Added guidance for the RPA slow loading times

  62. Added Rural Payments downtime message for 2 March

  63. Downtime for Rural Payments added From 5pm Monday 28 February until 8am Tuesday 1 March

  64. Downtime for Rural Payments added on Tuesday 22 February between 6pm and 9pm

  65. Downtime for Rural Payments added From 5pm Wednesday 16 February Until 9am Thursday 17 February

  66. Downtime for Rural Payments added for Wednesday 9 February between 6pm and 9pm

  67. Updated list of what you can do in Rural Payments service for CS scheme opening on 8 Feb 2022

  68. Rural Payments downtime added for Wednesday 9 February between 6pm and 9pm

  69. Downtime for Rural Payments added for Monday 7 February from 5pm to 8am Tuesday 8 February

  70. Added extra downtime 11pm Wednesday 2 February from 11pm to 4am Thursday 3 February

  71. Downtime for Rural Payments added for Wednesday 2 February between 6pm and 9pm

  72. Update to What you can use Rural Payments section to include transfer land and transfer BPS entitlements. You can also add land by email.

  73. The Rural Payments service will not be available from 6pm to 9pm on Wednesday 19 January.

  74. Downtime for Rural Payments added for Friday 14 January between 6pm and 7pm

  75. The Rural Payments service will not be available from 6pm Wednesday 12 January to 9pm Wednesday 12 January and from 5pm Thursday 13 January to 8am Friday 14 January.

  76. Downtime for Rural Payments added for Wednesday 22 December between 6pm and 9pm

  77. Downtime for Rural Payments added for Wednesday 15 December between 6pm and 9pm

  78. Downtime for Rural Payments added for Wednesday 8 December between 6pm and 10pm

  79. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance from 5pm Thursday 2 December to 7am Friday 3 December.

  80. Downtime for Rural Payments added for Wednesday 17 November between 6pm and 10pm

  81. Downtime for Rural Payments added for Wednesday 10 November between 6pm and 10pm

  82. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Wednesday 3 November from 6pm to 10pm.

  83. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Wednesday 20 October from 6pm to 10pm.

  84. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Wednesday 13 October from 6pm to 10pm.

  85. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance from 5pm Tuesday 5 October to 8am Wednesday 6 October.

  86. Added upcoming Rural Payments downtime

  87. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance System availability from 6pm Wednesday 8 September to 6:30pm Wednesday 8 September.

  88. Downtime for Rural Payments added for Wednesday 25 August between 6pm and 10pm

  89. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance from 6pm Friday 13 August to 5pm Saturday 14 August and on Wednesday 18 August from 6pm to 10pm.

  90. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance from 6pm until 10pm on Wednesday 11 August and from 6pm Friday 13 August until 5pm Saturday 14 August.

  91. 7 August - The Rural Payments Service is now available.

  92. 7 August - Planned maintenance of Rural Payments Service is still ongoing so it remains unavailable. We will confirm when it’s available again.

  93. Added Rural Payments downtime for Friday 6 August from 5pm to 11:59pm

  94. Downtime for Rural Payments added for Wednesday 4 August between 6pm and 7pm

  95. What you can use Rural Payments for section updated to reflect that applications for Wildlife Offer are closed.

  96. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance from 6:30am Saturday 31 July to 5pm Sunday 1 August.

  97. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance from 5pm Tuesday 20 July to 7am Wednesday 21 July.

  98. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Wednesday 7 July from 6:30pm to 8pm.

  99. Downtime for Rural Payments added for Wednesday 30 June between 6pm and 10pm

  100. Downtime for Rural Payments added for Wednesday 23 June between 6pm and 7pm

  101. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Friday 18 June from 6pm to 7pm.

  102. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable from 6pm Wednesday 16 June to 6:30pm Wednesday 16 June

  103. Updated latest news to confirm deadline has passed for applications for BPS/CS revenue. Removed out of date content.

  104. Downtime for Rural Payments added for Wednesday 9 June between 6pm and 10pm

  105. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance from 5pm Wednesday 2 June to 7am Thursday 3 June.

  106. The downtime for this evening has changed: The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Wednesday 26 May 2021 between 9pm and 10:30pm.

  107. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable on Wednesday 26 May 2021 between 6pm and 10pm.

  108. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Wednesday 19 May from 6pm to 8pm.

  109. Edited "latest news" to include 18 May - changes to what customers can use the Rural Payments service for following the 17 May deadline passing. Also removed the transfer options further down under "what you can use the RP service for".

  110. Amendment to Downtime 5th May

  111. Updated downtime

  112. Updated down time

  113. Remove request Higher Tier application pack and apply for Capital Grants from the list 'What you can use the Rural Payments service for' as applications have now closed.

  114. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance from 6pm Wednesday 28 April to 7am Thursday 29 April

  115. Downtime for Rural Payments added for Wednesday 21 April between 6pm and 10pm

  116. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Wednesday 14 April from 6pm to 10pm.

  117. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance from 5pm Tuesday 30 March to 7am Wednesday 31 March.

  118. Adding Rural Payments downtime on Wednesday 24 March between 6pm and 11:59pm

  119. Updated to remove downtime and to announce opening of the Rural Payments service for BPS applications and CS revenue claims.

  120. Downtime for Rural Payments added for Wednesday 17 March between 6pm and 8pm

  121. Downtime for Rural Payments added for Wednesday 10 March between 6pm and 10pm and Friday 12 March between 6pm and 8pm

  122. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Wednesday 10 March from 6pm to 10pm.

  123. Downtime for Rural Payments added for 6pm Tuesday 2 March to 10pm Tuesday 2 March and also 6pm Wednesday 3 March to 11:59pm Wednesday 3 March.

  124. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance from 4pm Tuesday 23 February to 7am Wednesday 24 February.

  125. The downtime on Friday 12 February has changed to 6pm to midnight.

  126. 9 February: update land use is now available online using the Rural Payment service. Use the service to request a CS Mid Tier and CS Higher Tier application pack; apply for CS Wildlife Offers online; and apply for CS Capital Grants online.

  127. System downtime for 6pm-9pm on Friday 12 February added

  128. The Rural Payments service will not be available on Wednesday 10 February between 6pm and 9pm.

  129. System availability - The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Wednesday 3 February from 6pm to 9pm

  130. Update to show that the Rural Payments service can be used to transfer or remove land, and transfer BPS entitlements.

  131. Downtime notice added for Rural Payments service from 4pm Tuesday 26 January to 7am Wednesday 27 January

  132. System availability. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Wednesday 13 January between 6pm and 9pm.

  133. The Rural Payments service will not be available between 6pm Wednesday 6 January and 8pm Wednesday 6 January.

  134. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Wednesday 2 December between 6pm and 10pm

  135. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Wednesday 25 November between 5pm and 10pm

  136. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Wednesday 25 November between 4pm and 10pm

  137. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Wednesday 18 November between 6pm and 8pm

  138. Rural Payments downtime for Wednesday 11 November (6pm to 8pm) added.

  139. Rural Payments downtime added for Wednesday 4 November (6 to 8pm)

  140. Countryside Stewardship functions in the Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance between 4pm Thursday 8 Oct and 7pm Wednesday 14 Oct.

  141. Rural Payments downtime for 7, 8 and 9 October added.

  142. Rural Payments service downtime for Wednesday 30 September added.

  143. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Wednesday 23 September from 6pm to 9pm.

  144. Rural Payments downtime update

  145. Rural Payments downtime update

  146. Rural Payments service downtime added for Wednesday 26 August (6pm to 9pm.)

  147. Downtime for Rural Payments service added for Wednesday 19 August (6 pm to 9pm)

  148. Downtime for Rural Payments service on Wednesday 12 August extended to 11.59pm.

  149. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Wednesday 12 August from 6pm and 9pm

  150. Apply for CS Wildlife Offers removed from the list 'What you can use Rural Payments for'.

  151. Rural Payments service downtime added for Tuesday 4 August, Wednesday 5 August and Friday 7 to Sunday 9 August.

  152. Rural Payments downtime updated

  153. Downtime for Rural Payments service added for Wednesday 22 July (6-7pm)

  154. Rural Payments service downtime added for Wednesday 15 July (6pm to 8pm), and downtime for Saturday 18 July updated (now up to 6pm instead of 5pm.)

  155. Removed functions not available at the moment in Rural Payments due to application and claim window closures. Downtime added from 6pm on 17 July to 5pm on 18 July.

  156. Latest news added that links to the new Rural Payments: updates to the service page

  157. Rural Payments service downtime updated for 7 and 8 July 2020.

  158. Downtime update: The Rural Payments service will not be available between 6pm Wednesday 24 June and 8pm Wednesday 24 June |

  159. 'What you can use Rural Payments for' updated to show that you can no longer transfer or remove land.

  160. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Wednesday 20 May between 8pm and 9pm

  161. Transfer BPS entitlements, request a Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier application pack online, apply for Countryside Stewardship Hedgerows and Boundaries grant removed from What you can use Rural Payments for.

  162. Rural Payments downtime notice added for Wednesday 13 May 8pm to 10pm

  163. Downtime update - The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Wednesday 6 May between 8pm and midnight

  164. Rural Payments service downtime extended by 2 hours on 29 April

  165. Updated the Rural Payments service downtime

  166. Rural Payments downtime for Monday 20 April amended to 8pm to 10pm

  167. Rural Payments service downtime updated

  168. The Rural Payments service will be unavailable due to maintenance on Wednesday 15 April Between 6pm and 9pm.

  169. System downtime added for this week

  170. Rural Payments service can now be used to view land parcel map and information for a date in the past

  171. Downtime for the Rural Payments service amended.

  172. Rural Payments service downtime updated.

  173. Rural Payments service downtime updated

  174. Downtime removed as it has now passed

  175. Rural Payments service downtime updated

  176. Update to the Rural Payments service downtime

  177. First published.

Contents