Council Tax: recovery of non-payment

Recovering overdue payments

Council Tax is normally payable in 10 monthly instalments between April to January - currently due on the 1st, 11th, 20th and 28th of the month by direct debit.

If paying by cash or cheque then payment should be made on the 1st.

The majority of Council Tax payers pay their accounts on time each month. It is therefore important to them and us that anyone who does not pay is pursued for payment quickly. This ensures arrears are kept to a minimum and that Council Tax is kept as low as possible for everyone.

If you wish to request instalments until March, please contact us within seven days of receipt of your new bill. In some circumstances where your account is in arrears we may not be able to offer this facility immediately.

What happens if you do not pay your Council Tax

If you miss an instalment, a reminder will be sent to you.

If you bring your payments up to date but a further instalment is missed, a second reminder will be sent.

If this is paid, but a third instalment is missed a final notice will be sent. You have now lost the right to pay by instalments and the whole year's bill is due.

We may consider making a special arrangement for repayment of arrears, and you should contact them immediately if you are unable to repay.

If you fail to make a payment after the issue of a reminder or final notice, or if you fail to maintain a payment arrangement, we will request the Magistrates Court to issue a summons. At this stage court costs will be added to your account.

At the court hearing we will ask the Magistrate to award us a Liability Order in our favour.

This Liability Order enables us to potentially use one of the following options to collect the Council Tax:

Difficulties paying your bills?

Are you experiencing financial problems paying all your bills, including your Council Tax, with the income you have? Find out what options are available to help you.