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What happens if you do not pay Council Tax

If you do not pay your Council Tax bill by the due date, we will start taking further steps to recover the money.

First reminder notice

You will be sent this notice if you do not pay by the due date and have not paid late in the past.

If you do not pay after you are sent this notice, you may no longer be able to pay by instalments and may be sent a court summons, which may mean you have to pay over £100 in costs.

Second reminder notice

You will be sent this if you have not paid in time again. This means you will have already received a first reminder notice and then paid this amount off.

If you do not pay after you are sent this notice, you may no longer be able to pay by instalments and may be sent a court summons which may mean you have to pay over £100 in costs.

Final notice

You will be sent this notice if you pay us late for a third time or were not entitled to instalments. This means you have lost the right to pay your Council Tax bill in instalments and the full amount is now due. If you are unable to pay in full, you have an opportunity to contact us to agree a payment plan, preferably by Direct Debit. If you do not pay in full or agree a payment plan, you will be issued with a court summons which may mean you have to pay over £100 in costs.

Court summons

If payment is still not received, you will be sent a court summons which includes court costs of £75.50. If you pay the full balance, plus the £75.50, before the hearing date, we will not take any further action. The summons is for the whole amount of Council Tax you owe for the year, up until the end of March.

If you cannot pay the full balance, plus the £75.50, before the hearing date, you can email revs@enfield.gov.uk to agree a payment plan. Make sure the subject of your email includes your Council Tax number inside angled brackets, for example <12345678>. However, you will also need to pay an additional fee of £27 to cover the liability order costs incurred by the council.

If you own or rent the property with somebody else and they are named on the Council Tax bill, they will also receive a court summons. You only need to pay one ‘total due’ amount. You do not both need to pay.

Court hearing

You do not have to attend the court hearing, unless you have a legal defence against the issue of a liability order or wish to make representations regarding the costs sought.

However, it is your right to attend the court hearing to present your case if you feel that you are not liable to pay the Council Tax.

If you do not attend a court hearing, a liability order will be granted in your absence.

Liability order notice

A liability order will be granted by the court, which allows us to take further action as detailed below.

If you still cannot pay the balance owed once a liability order is in place, we may:

Enforcement agencies

Enfield Council sends cases to enforcement agents when:

The relevant enforcement agent will contact you to discuss payment arrangements. Please be aware that once sent to the enforcement agents, additional costs will be added to your debt. These are as follows:

Stage of process Fixed fee What you'll pay for debts over £1,500 (%)
Contacting you about your debt (called 'compliance') £75 None
Visiting your home (called 'enforcement') £235 7.5%
Taking and selling your belongings (called 'sale') £110 7.5%

The enforcement agents working with Enfield Council are Newlyn PLC, Marston and CDER Group. If you have already received a letter from an enforcement agent, then you must contact them directly and not the council:

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