Council Tax Recovery

Council Tax law is detailed and complex. These notes are only a brief summary of the key points and are not intended as a full guide. For further information, please contact the Recovery Team.
The billing, collection and enforcement of Council Tax is mostly governed by 'The Council Tax (Administration & Enforcement) Regulations 1992'. These set down the following procedures to collect Council Tax.

We must send you a bill showing the amount due and the instalments required.
If you fall into arrears, we must send you a Reminder. If you do not pay the arrears in full immediately, a summons will be issued without further notice.
If you fall into arrears but bring yourself up to date, and then fall into arrears again, we must send you a second Reminder. If you do not pay the arrears in full immediately, a summons will be issued without further notice.
If you have been sent a second Reminder and pay the arrears and then fall into arrears again, we must send you a Final Notice.
If we send you a Final Notice, you have lost the right to pay by instalments and if you do not pay the full balance immediately we will send you a summons.
If we send you a summons, unless payment in full (including the summons costs) is made before the hearing date, we will apply for a Liability Order. This may be done in your absence. Arrangements may be made but only on the basis that the recovery action continues, and the total costs of the summons are included in the arrangement. You will also have to give us details of your employer and earnings.
Once a Liability Order has been obtained, we may demand information from you about your employer and earnings, with a view to setting up an Attachment of Earnings Order. Failure to supply such information is a criminal offence punishable by a substantial fine. You must supply these details, even if you have already agreed a payment arrangement. The document in the Linked Documents box on the right shows how much money can be deducted from your earnings.
If you are getting Income Support orJob Seekers Allowance we may deduct money directly from your Benefit payment.
If you do not make an acceptable arrangement with us, or an Attachment of Earnings Order (or Deduction from Benefit) is not set up, we may instruct bailiffs to collect the debt. Bailiff action can incur very substantial costs.
If bailiffs are unable to collect the debt we may take action to send you to prison.
Other options open to us are bankruptcy proceedings, or placing a charging order on your property.

The following notes are the answers to questions most regularly asked by Council Tax payers, regarding enforcement action.

We may start recovery action immediately an instalment is overdue but, in practice, we will give you a few extra days to pay.

We only have to prove that bills and notices are sent and not that you have received them. Legally, they are considered to have been received unless you can prove they have not. If you could prove that they have not been received you would have a defence against recovery action but it is not sufficient for you to simply say that they have not been received.

We only have to send notices to your last known address and if you do not tell us you have moved it is not a defence to later claim that notices were sent to an old address. It is not sufficient to tell other Council Departments, you must tell the Local Taxation section when you move into or leave an address. You can do this by telephoning us on 01480 388030 or by using the link in the Related Information box on the right of this page.

We do not have to make special arrangements or change instalment dates. You should organise your finances so that instalments reach us by the due dates. If you are experiencing temporary difficulties you should approach your bank, or seek other help. Where special arrangements are made, they are usually subject to recovery action being taken to protect the Council's interests and the costs of recovery action are included in the arrangement.

You must pay the instalments shown on your bill even if you have a question about the charge, your Council tax Band, Council Tax Benefit, discounts or exemptions. If you have a question you should contact us immediately but until it is answered and a revised bill is sent you must pay as originally billed. If a later amendment results in an overpayment it will be returned to you.

Once a summons has been sent, special arrangements will only be made at our discretion AND only if you supply information about your employer and earnings (once a Liability Order has been granted). If the arrangement is broken, an Attachment of Earnings Order (AEO) may be set up, or the matter may be passed to bailiffs. Under an AEO, a set percentage is deducted from your salary or wages.

Details of the percentages can be found in the Linked Documents box on the right hand side of this screen.

For orders granted after 1st April 2007 refer to the table called Attachment of earnings table after 1.4.07
For orders granted before 31st March 2007 refer to the table called Attachment of earnings tables before 1.4.07

Struggling to pay your Council Tax?

If you are in severe financial difficulty, recovery action will usually continue to protect the Council's interests but you are advised to approach the Consumer Credit Counselling Service advice agency, who will offer a free debt counselling service. They will assess your problems and make proposals for payment to all the people you owe money to. Links to this and other agencies can be found on the right of this page in the External Links box.

There is no need for you to attend Court unless you wish to contest the matter.

If you want to make an arrangement you can telephone, or email, us. If you are thinking of contesting the matter at Court, please note the only legal defences you may offer are:

Bills and reminders have not been sent - but remember we do not have to prove that you have received notices and it is not enough for you to say that they have not been received.
Payment IN FULL was received by us before the summons was sent. If you pay after the summons is sent but before you receive it you remain liable for the costs and we may go on to obtain a Liability Order even if only the summons costs are due.
The summons is in the wrong name, or relates to the wrong property. This does not include minor mistakes of spelling or title.
The debt is subject to bankruptcy proceedings. You should contact us before the court hearing, so we may take the necessary action.

If you think you have a legal defence you should contact us well before the hearing. In most cases we will be able to answer your question and avoid the need to attend Court.
It is not a defence to say that you have money problems or that you should have Council Tax Benefit or a discount or exemption. These must all be dealt with by written appeal to us.
It is also not a defence to say the tax is unfair or your property band is wrong. The Court will not hear arguments about such matters.

If you do not have a legal defence against the issue of a Liability Order, we suggest you consider the matter carefully before giving up your time to attend Court.