If you get into difficulty with the payments
If you are struggling to pay your Council Tax bill, get in touch to see if we can help. Don't wait for a reminder notice or court summons.
Find out what help is available
Make an arrangement
If you have fallen behind with your Council Tax payments, you may be able to set up a repayment scheme. This is known as an arrangement.
This allows you to make an offer of how much you can afford to pay towards your Council Tax arrears.
If you haven’t spoken to us about a problem paying your bill, and you miss a payment, we will ask you for payment.
Request a repayment arrangement
Reminders
If you fall behind with your payments, or you are paying late, we will send you a reminder. This gives you seven days to pay.
If you bring your account up to date, but fall behind again, we will send you a second reminder.
If you bring your account up to date and continue to pay on time we’ll take no further action and you can continue to pay monthly.
If you don’t pay after a reminder
If you do not pay within 7 days, you will no longer be allowed to pay by monthly instalments.
We will send you a final notice and you will be required to pay the remainder of your annual Council Tax bill in full within 7 days.
If you have received a reminder or a final notice and cannot pay your Council Tax in full, we may still consider a repayment arrangement. You will need to provide details of your household income and expenditure as part of your offer.
Summons
If you don’t pay your Council Tax after receiving a reminder and haven’t agreed or kept to a payment plan, you’ll receive a court summons.
The summons will tell you the time and date of the hearing at the magistrates court and the amount owed. When we issue a Summons, a cost of £81.00 is added.
You must pay the amount shown on your summons, including the court costs, before the hearing date to avoid further recovery action.
The council will give you at least 14 days notice of the court hearing.
Receiving a summons means we’ve asked the court for a Liability Order, which gives us legal powers to recover unpaid Council Tax in different ways.
If you have received a summons but you can’t pay in full, we may still agree to a repayment arrangement. You’ll need to provide details of your household income, expenses, and your employment or benefits details as part of your payment offer.
If an arrangement is made (including costs) and payment is maintained no further recovery action will take place.
Request a repayment arrangement
I have received a summons - do I have to attend court?
You do not have to attend the court hearing.
If a repayment arrangement has been agreed for the outstanding balance including costs, there is also no requirement to attend Court on the day of the hearing.
We will always obtain a liability order on the court date unless the debt has been paid in full.
The court must issue a liability order unless:
- You are not the person who's liable to pay the Council Tax that you have been summonsed for (this does not include minor spelling mistakes of your name or title).
- You've paid the total amount of the summons in full, and you can show a receipt.
- We did not send you bills and reminders (this is not the same as you not receiving them).
The following are not valid defences against the granting of a liability order:
- you disagree with legislation
- you cannot afford to pay the amount outstanding
- you have made, or wish to make, an arrangement for payment
- you have applied for or are querying a discount, disregard, exemption, or the Council Tax Reduction Scheme
- you have appealed against your Council Tax band. You must pay the amount on your bill until your appeal is heard by the Valuation Office
- you believe that Council Tax is unfair or think it is unlawful
If you feel you have a valid defence as to why you aren't liable for the debt, you should contact us before the hearing to explain why.
Explain why you have a valid defence against the summons
Liability Orders
If you don't pay the summons amount and costs before the court hearing date, we will ask the magistrate to grant us a liability order which allows us more power to recover Council Tax.
If a liability order is obtained, the court costs will be charged to you. You will be sent a letter advising that you have 14 days to pay this debt including costs.
If you do not pay the debt, we may deduct money from certain benefits or from your wages, or ask an enforcement agency (previously known as bailiffs) to collect the money from you, which could incur further costs.
Find out more about Summons and Liability Orders
Deductions from wages
If you are working, your employer will be sent an Attachment of Earnings Order asking them to make regular deductions from your wages towards your unpaid Council Tax.
- See how much you will have to pay based on your earnings (PDF, 23KB)
- Download Direct Earnings Attachments payment schedule (PDF, 27KB)
Deductions from benefits
We may be able to apply for deductions from your benefits to pay your Council Tax if you are receiving Jobseekers' Allowance, Income Support or Pension Credit.
Enforcement agents
If your debt is passed to enforcement agents, you will need to contact them directly to discuss payment of this debt.
They may take some of your belongings and sell them at a public auction to pay off the debt. You will be charged further costs if your debt is passed to the enforcement agents.
Charging orders
If you own your home a charge may be placed on your property so that, when the property is sold, the Council Tax debt, including costs will be paid from the proceeds of the sale. If you have a mortgage, this will be paid first.
Committal to prison
If enforcement agents do not manage to get back all the money you owe us, you will have to go to court.
The court will hold a ‘means enquiry’ which looks into your debt and your means, income and expenditure. If the court is satisfied you have deliberately refused to pay, or you have not told us about a change in your circumstances they will issue a warrant.
The court may decide to send you to prison for up to three months. Imprisonment may be postponed on conditions such as arranging to pay off the debt over a period of time.
The court also has the power to remit all or part of the debt. This means you will no longer have to pay the part of the debt that has been remitted.
Council tax and bankruptcy
We can apply to the courts for you to be made bankrupt if your debt exceeds £750.