How we recover Council Tax debts

How we recover Council Tax debts

We will send you a bill informing you how much to pay and the deadline for doing so.

If you pay late, we will send you a reminder or final notice. If you do not pay, you will lose your right to pay by instalments. You must then pay the full amount (although we may agree to a different payment arrangement if you contact us). If you do not pay, we will send you a summons. This will incur an additional charge.

We will then go to court. If the court decides you are responsible for paying and you have not paid in full, it will give us a liability order. This means that we can collect the money by deductions from your Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance or your wages. We may send the debt to the Bailiffs and you will have to pay their fees. We can only use one of these options at a time, but we can switch from one to another.

If you do not pay, we can return to court. The court may decide to send you to prison, order you to pay, or tell us to write off part or all of the debt.

If you have received a court summons, see further information on our FAQs

Bailiff code of practice