Difficulty paying your bill

Reminder notices

If you don't pay an instalment on time, you will receive a reminder notice. If you can pay the amount owed within 7 days, no further action will be taken. If you don't pay within this time, or you pay only part of what is owed, we'll send you a summons to court and you'll be asked to pay the full year's balance.

We send a maximum of two reminders in any financial year (April to March) before a final notice or summons is issued.

Reminders - Frequently Asked Questions

Final notices

If you don't pay on time for the third time in the financial year, we'll send you a final notice. You may also receive a final notice if there is a balance outstanding for a previous year or there is a balance outstanding on a closed account. The final notice will ask you to pay the full year's charge within 7 days.

Final notices - Frequently Asked Questions

Summons and court hearings

If you don't pay after a reminder or final notice in full, a summons will be sent to you. Costs of £65 will be added to the unpaid Council Tax bill.

You can avoid going to court if you can:

• pay the full amount shown on the summons, including costs
• Contact us before the court date to make a payment arrangement. You can phone us on 0345 605 3011 or contact us using the form below.

Summons - Frequently asked questions

Liability orders

At the court hearing, we'll ask the magistrate to issue a liability order, which gives us the authority to collect the money that you owe. If we obtain a liability order, you will be charged an extra £35.

Read more about liability orders

If you still don't pay

There are a number of options we can consider to collect the money that is owed.

These include:

• passing the debt to an enforcement agency (bailiffs)
• taking what is owed from your wages or benefits on a weekly or monthly basis
• apply a charging order against a property you own
• take action to make you bankrupt
• apply to the court for you to be committed to prison if all other efforts have failed

Help managing debt

If you need help managing your debts, you can contact Citizens Advice. The number to call is 03444 111 444.

Debt advice is also available on the Citizens Advice website.

The National Debt Advice Line is also available https://www.nationaldebtline.org/