How we will collect and enforce payment of your bill
At the start of each financial year, within 28 days of the Council setting the Council Tax, we will send a bill to everybody who is shown on the Council Tax records as being responsible for payment.
We will send you a bill which shows the net amount due after deduction of any amounts you may be entitled to in respect of:
- Disabled Person's Relief
- Discount
- Council Tax Benefit
We will amend the Council Tax records where a change in liability occurs and issue an amended bill to you, normally within 20 days of receiving the relevant information.
Each bill will normally allow payment to be made by monthly instalments on the 5th of the month and at least 14 days will be allowed before the first instalment is due. You must make your payments by the 5th of every month. Variations to the payment date can only be allowed if you pay by direct debit. You can choose a payment date of the 5th, 10th, 15th or 25th.
Direct Debit application form
The bill only includes the amount payable for the current financial year. Any amounts outstanding from previous years remain payable as previously notified.
When you receive your bill, we will try to help you if we feel you may not be claiming all the Benefits you are entitled to.
Are you sure you have claimed all the Benefits you are entitled to?
If you disagree with the bill which has been sent, and intend to follow the appeals procedure to the Valuation Tribunal, you will still be expected to pay the instalments as and when they become due.
What happens if I can’t pay?
If any payment is not received by the due date, the full amount for the year may become immediately payable following the issue of one reminder notice.
This could also lead to a summons being issued for proceedings in the Magistrates’ Court, with costs being added to your account. It is therefore important that you pay your instalments on time.
If you have difficulty in paying any instalment, please contact the Council before you fall into arrears. It may be possible to make a different arrangement for payment that you can afford. However, we would normally only be able to review your payment arrangement on one occasion prior to Court action.
Taking Court action
We will take Court action to enforce payment of the debt if you either do not make an arrangement for payment or fail to keep to an arrangement made. At this point costs start to become payable.
The costs for the issue of a summons are currently £50.00.
If you have made an application for Benefit either before or after the issue of a summons, assuming the claim details are complete, your claim will be calculated and we will inform you of the net balance within 48 hours of you bringing this to our attention. You will then have the option of either paying in full before the Court Hearing (including summons costs) or making an arrangement for payment which extends beyond the Hearing Date on the understanding that we will apply for a Liability Order and additional costs.
We will serve the summons at least 14 days before the Court Hearing.
If the amount, including costs, shown on the summons is paid in full before the Court Hearing, no further action will be taken and proceedings will be withdrawn.
If a Liability Order is granted, additional costs of £25.00 will be incurred, resulting in total costs of £75.00 being added to your account
The Liability Order
If a Liability Order is granted, we will take appropriate enforcement action as quickly as possible, unless you have made an arrangement for payment.
If you do not make an arrangement for payment, or fail to keep to an arrangement made, we will take action to enforce payment of the debt without further notice
How can we enforce payment?
The main ways we can enforce payment of the debt are as follows:
If you are working an Attachment of Earnings Order may be sent to your employer who will make deductions from your wage/salary until the debt is cleared.
If you are claiming Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance a request may be sent to the Department for Works and Pensions for deductions to be made from your Benefit.
Bailiffs may be instructed to remove and sell your goods to the value of the outstanding Council Tax and costs incurred. The Bailiff will give you the opportunity to make a satisfactory arrangement for payment before considering removing your goods. If Bailiffs are instructed, you may incur a significant amount of costs relating to the visits made by the Bailiff; levy on goods; hire of van; auctioneer's fee; etc. We will send you a warning letter at least 14 days before a Bailiff visit. We will include with this letter full details of the costs which can be incurred. If you arrange payment immediately after receiving this letter, you can avoid paying Bailiff costs.
If appropriate, we may also consider taking the following steps to enforce payment of the debt:
If the Bailiff is unable to recover the debt, and another way of enforcing payment is not appropriate, we will make an application to the Magistrates' Court for your commitment to prison. The commencement of Committal proceedings can result in additional costs in excess of £100.00 being incurred and the Magistrates can send you to prison for a period up to 3 months.
