If you received a summons
If you fail to make Council Tax payments as detailed on the bill issued, we will send you a reminder with the overdue amount.
The reminder tells you that you will lose your right to pay by instalments, if:
- you have not made a payment towards the overdue amount within seven days, or
- you are late with any further instalments
If you received a final notice
Once we issue a final notice, the full year of Council Tax is due.
If we don't receive full payment or you don't contact us to discuss a payment arrangement, we issue a summons to court.
When we issue a summons, this will result in a minimum cost of £60.
If you received a summons
Once we have issued a summons, we can only stop proceedings if you pay the Council Tax and costs in full.
If you receive the summons and you disagree with the outstanding amount, you must contact us immediately. We can then try to resolve the matter before the court hearing.
The only legal reasons why the court would not grant a liability order is:
- if the amount has not been legally demanded, or
- if you have paid the amount in full
A liability order gives us further powers to recover unpaid Council Tax.
The court does not have the power to make payment arrangements.
If you are unable to pay the full amount
If you are unable to pay the full amount immediately, you can contact the Recovery Team before the date of the court hearing.
It might be possible for us to make an arrangement with you so you can pay over a reasonable period of time.
We will still ask the court for a liability order, which incurs a further cost of £35. We will pause further action, as long as you pay in accordance with your arrangement.
Court hearing
It is your right to attend the court hearing. You don't have to attend court if you accept that you owe the money. The court will then deal with the matter in accordance with the law in your absence.
Contact us
You can contact the Recovery Team or call us on 01245 606805.
If you don't contact the Recovery Team or fail to keep to any arrangement that you have made with us, we can take further action to recover the outstanding balance.