If you are having difficulty paying
You should contact the Council Tax team in your area to discuss a suitable offer of repayment. We may be able to divide the balance outstanding by the number of months remaining in the financial year.
If you are having difficulty paying, it is important that you contact us as soon as possible.
Contact the Council Tax Team in your area
You can also talk to a trained adviser online about your debt issues on the Citizen Advice website.
Chat to a trained advisor online
Cost of living support provides advice about the household support fund, food support, help with your bills, childcare costs and transport costs.
How we recover money owed
We will start the process of recovering the money owed by following these steps:
If you miss your payments
We will start the following Council Tax arrears recovery process:
Step 1: Council Tax Demand Notice
Instalments are requested in accordance with a statutory instalment plan. There will be at least 14 days before your first payment is due.
Direct debit is offered on various dates.
Step 2: First and second reminders
Issued if you have not paid in accordance with the demand notice or if you paid the amount due on the reminder but fail to pay a future instalment by the due date.
Step 3: Final notice
If you fail to pay in accordance with the reminder notices issued, you will receive a final notice.
A final notice means you have lost the right to pay by instalments and your council tax is due in full. Failure to pay in full, or make contact to discuss your arrears, will result in further recovery action.
Step 4: Summons to appear before the Magistrates Court
If you fail to pay in full, a Summons is issued to attend court and additional costs are added to your account.
You can pay in full, including the costs, before the hearing to avoid further action. You can also request an arrangement before the hearing.
To make an arrangement, you should contact us as soon as possible using the contact details above. If you reach an agreement, you do not need to attend court.
If you want to provide a defence against the Liability Order, you should read the notes included with your Summons.
The court can only consider a limited number of issues in these proceedings. If you think you have an arguable case, you may want to speak to us first about this.
Step 5: Liability order
Provides us with the authority to recover the debt by various means, for example, by making a deduction from your income or considering an arrangement.
You must complete the request for information enclosed with the liability order notice for us to consider the most appropriate means of repayment.
Guidance for employers
His Majesty's Courts Service has published guidance for employers on administering attachment of earnings orders (PDF , 732KB).
Weekly deductions made under an attachment of earning order
| Net earnings | Deduction rate |
| Not exceeding £75 | 0% |
| Exceeding £75 but not exceeding £135 | 3% |
| Exceeding £135 but not exceeding £185 | 5% |
| Exceeding £185 but not exceeding £225 | 7% |
| Exceeding £225 but not exceeding £355 | 12% |
| Exceeding £355 but not exceeding £505 | 17% |
| Exceeding £505 | 17% in respect of the first £505 and 50% in respect of the remainder |
Deductions from monthly earnings
| Net earnings | Deduction rate |
| Not exceeding £300 | 0% |
| Exceeding £300 but not exceeding £550 | 3% |
| Exceeding £550 but not exceeding £740 | 5% |
| Exceeding £740 but not exceeding £900 | 7% |
| Exceeding £900 but not exceeding £1,420 | 12% |
| Exceeding £1,420 but not exceeding £2,020 | 17% |
| Exceeding £2,020 | 17% in respect of the first £2,020 and 50% in respect of the remainder |
Deductions from daily earnings
| Net earnings | Deduction rate |
| Not exceeding £11 | 0% |
| Exceeding £11 but not exceeding £20 | 3% |
| Exceeding £20 but not exceeding £27 | 5% |
| Exceeding £27 but not exceeding £33 | 7% |
| Exceeding £33 but not exceeding £52 | 12% |
| Exceeding £52 but not exceeding £72 | 17% |
| Exceeding £72 | 17% in respect of the first £72 and 50% in respect of the remainder |
Step 6: Refer to Enforcement Agency
If you fail to respond to the request for information enclosed with the liability order notice, arrange a satisfactory repayment plan, or recovery though an attachment is not possible, your account will be referred to an external enforcement agency for collection.
Further costs are added, and you must contact the enforcement agency to discuss repayment.
Fees recoverable under regulation 4 of The Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014.
| Fee stage | Fixed fee | Percentage fee (regulation 7): percentage of sum to be recovered exceeding £1500 |
| Compliance stage | £75 | 0% |
| Enforcement stage | £235 | 7.5% |
| Sale or disposal stage | £110 | 7.5% |
Step 7: Charging order
If you owe at least £1,000 and a liability order has been obtained, we can make an application to the court to add a charge to your property. Further costs are added.
Step 8: Further action
If considered appropriate, we can also commence bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings or apply to the magistrates’ court for the issue of a warrant of commitment.
Discretionary reduction to Council Tax bill
Where taxpayers are facing exceptionally difficult circumstances, we have the discretion to consider reducing their Council Tax bill. This includes people who are in receipt of Council Tax Reduction but who are still experiencing severe financial hardship.
We will consider each request for a reduction, on a case by case basis, taking account of the person’s circumstances, requesting proof of things such as income and expenditure and considering any other help that may be available before making an award.
If you are experiencing exceptional difficulties and would like to request a reduction to your Council Tax bill, please complete and return the Hardship fund application form (PDF , 157KB). Please make sure that you provide all of the supporting documents that you are asked for as part of the application.
Please see our guide for dealing with applications: Council Tax Discretionary relief protocol (PDF , 120KB)
Challenges to the legality of Council Tax
There are many misleading articles and templates on the internet regarding the legality of Council Tax. The status of being a 'freeman' does not exempt anyone from their obligation to pay Council Tax.
Read about the freeman on the land and frequently asked questions we receive about it