Problems paying?

We want to help you to pay your council tax, this could mean supporting you in claiming Council Tax Support, offering you 12 installments instead of 10 and working with you to make an arrangement that you can afford in order to pay your bill.

If you are having any difficulty paying or think you may have difficulty paying in the future please contact us as soon as possible so we may discuss ways of helping you.

We can make an agreement at any time during the year on the way that you pay us in order to ensure that your Council Tax is paid. It is best to contact us and to discuss ways of paying before we issue a summons as this will cost you more money, (please see 'What happens if I don't pay' below).

You can make a formal arrangement after a Summons has been issued. We may ask for details of your income and outgoings to help us assess an arrangement you can afford and keep to.

Remember that paying by direct debit ensures that your payments are made on time every month. There is a choice of three dates: the 1st, 15th and the 25th of the month.

What happens if you don't pay

If you pay late we will send you a reminder, advising you to bring your instalments up to date, if you fail to do this, you will lose your right to pay by instalments and the full balance will fall due.

We will only send you two reminders in the year, if you fail to pay on time a third time, you will lose your right to pay by instalments immediately.

You must then pay the full balance outstanding and if you do not pay this we will send you a summons to appear in the Magistrates Court, for which you will incur additional costs.

The magistrate will grant a liability order if the full amount on the summons including costs remains unpaid.

The magistrate cannot decide whether you are the correct liable person or make any decisions about your council tax benefit or your entitlement to a discount or exemption.

These are matters which must be dealt with via the appeal process and you must continue to pay pending resolution.

A liability order enables us to collect the unpaid council tax from you via:

• deductions from your benefit: Income Support, Job Seekers Allowance, Employment Support Allowance or Pension Credit
• deductions direct from your salary from your employer
• Appointing bailiffs to remove and sell your possessions (this may lead to additional fees being incurred)
• commencing insolvency proceedings through the County Court to make you bankrupt
• applying to the County Court for a charging order on your property that enables us to force its sale or repay your council tax out of the proceeds of any future sale. This will also result in you paying additional fees
• as a method of last resort, we may apply for a warrant of commitment to send you to prison.