Payment & Billing FAQ

Q: What kind of payment methods are available?

We offer three kinds of payments, in addition to paying manually by mail:

  • Payment by Phone: Customers wishing to make a credit card or check payment over the phone can call our office Monday through Saturday. We will charge your credit card or process your check at that time. We will email you a notification of your payment or give you a confirmation number over the phone.
  • Online Paperless Bill Payment: Our online bill payment program is a convenient, paperless option for customers. You will need the "access code" printed on your statement. If you do not have this access code, you need to contact our office at 630-261-0400 to be issued an access code. Once you have an access code, your account has been set up and you will no longer need the access code. Your "Customer #" is your account number. This number begins with 01- or 03- followed by a series of numbers. There is a space before the last number. THIS LAST NUMBER IS NOT A PART OF YOUR ACCOUNT NUMBER. You do not need to enter the last number when you log into bill pay. Click here to sign up for Easy Pay online billing & payments.
  • Direct Debit: A customer wishing to use direct debit can complete the appropriate form with his or her banking or credit card information. This can also be set up by calling our office. The customer’s account will be debited or the credit card charged for the balance due on the account on the due date of their current statement. A statement will be mailed showing the date payment will be debited from their account.

Q: Where is my access code on the invoice?

  • The access code is located at the bottom of the invoice. If you have already registered your account, your access code is no longer available.

Q: What is a proration?

  • If you start service after our billing date, your first invoice will show a proration from the day you started to the date of the next billing date. If you change your service during a billing period, the proration will show the change in service price for the period already invoiced.

Q: What is a “scavenger service charge?"

  • This is your disposal charge for the current billing period.

Q: What is a “Processing Fee?"

  • Flood Brothers is committed to providing high quality service to its customers. We are constantly working to provide exceptional service at an economical price. The Processing Fee is established at $2.50 per invoice. There are costs associated with the administrative processes of billing, payment processing and account maintenance for Flood Brothers, and those costs have increased over time. This fee is waived by Flood Brothers when a customer sets up their account online or automatic payment is arranged. If you have additional questions, please contact customer service at the telephone number listed on our website.

Q: What is an “Adminstration Fee?"

  • Flood Brothers is committed to providing high quality service to its customers. We are constantly working to provide exceptional service at an economical price. The Administration Fee is established at $5.00 per invoice and is charged only when your balance is past due over 60 days.  There are costs associated with the administrative processes of billing, payment processing and account maintenance for Flood Brothers, and those costs have increased over time. We have an Administrative Fee in place to recover these costs. We appreciate your business and look forward to continuing to serve you and the community.  Please pay your bills timely and you will not be charged this fee. If you have additional questions, please contact customer service at the telephone number listed on our website.

Q: What is the difference between an invoice and a statement?

  • An invoice shows charges for the current billing period only. A statement shows all open invoices that have not been paid.

Q: Why am I getting charged a City Permit Fee?

This is a fee from the City Of Chicago Department of Transportation that gets billed every 3 months (January, April, July and October) on your Flood Brothers invoice, if you have commercial services within the City of Chicago. This fee started in April of 2009. Beginning in 2021, the City of Chicago imposed a “technology surcharge” of 10% on all Commercial Refuse Containers. A Quarterly Administrative Fee will apply every 3 months on your Flood Brothers invoice.



Q: What is the "Environmental & Regulatory Charge?"

  • Flood Brothers is committed to providing high quality service to our customers. We strive to contain our costs; however, we are unable to control fuel and other petrochemical costs and environmental expenses. The environmental/regulatory charge are charges to recover these costs and achieve an acceptable operating margin. The two separate fees appear as a single invoice line item called "environmental/regulatory charge".
  • The amount of the environmental fee is not represented to be a direct offset or pass through of Flood Brothers Disposal’s actual environmental costs to service any individual account, but is intended to address Flood Brothers Disposal's overall costs, which may include, but is not limited to, the following: commodity value, processing, handling and related costs engineering, permit and license compliance, landfilling / transferring, title V Air, federal, state and local regulations, environmental insurance and surety bonds, tire disposal, battery disposal and employee training and certification. The environmental/regulatory charge percentages may be changed at the discretion of Flood Brothers.


Q: What is the "Finance Charge?"

  • Flood Brothers is committed to providing high quality service to its customers. We are constantly working to provide exceptional service at an economical price. The finance charge may be applied to commercial customers with a  balance over 60 days. A minimum of $0.50 for each billing period on balances over $10.00 over 60 days old at 1.5% the past due balance.


Q: What is a "Container Service Plan?"

  • Flood Brothers is committed to providing high quality service to its customers. We are constantly working to provide exceptional service at an economical price. The Container Service Plan is established at $10.00 per invoice on commercial accounts. There are costs associated with the protection plan for your containers against a possible eventuality. The cost to repair, exchange or service the container will be waived.(*This fee is subject to change based on fluxuations in industry costs and expenses)