Council tax recovery
Reminders and final notices
Reminder notices
These are sent when the council's records show that someone's
council tax instalment payments have not been paid. To avoid
further recovery action at this point, you need to pay the
outstanding instalment amount within seven days of the date on
the notice.
Second reminder notices
These are sent when the council's records show that someone's
council tax instalment payments have not been paid, and the person
has already been sent a reminder notice to bring the account up to
date.
This notice says that if the account is brought up to date
within seven days of the notice date that no further recovery
action will be taken. It also says that if payments fall behind
again, the next notice will be a final notice, and the right to pay
by instalments will be lost.
This means the full balance outstanding for the year, not just
the missed instalment, must be paid immediately.
Final notices
These are sent when the council has already sent a first and
second reminder and the taxpayer has again fallen behind with
the instalment payments. Final notices can also be issued in
respect of previous year outstanding debts. Here there is no right
to pay by instalments and the amount owed has to be paid in
full.
Once a final notice has been sent, the full council tax for the
year must be paid straight away.
What happens next?
Under council tax legislation, the council needs to send only
one reminder notice and/or a final notice in respect of a
yearly council tax bill, and for the amount to remain
outstanding, before issuing a summons for the customer to appear at
a magistrates' court. A reminder notice is not sent for every
monthly payment that is not paid.
Late payments
If a customer does not pay by the dates shown on their bill, but
pays regularly each month, they will still receive a reminder
notice. This is because the payment has not been made on time. We
can sometimes change the instalment date so that you can pay on a
different day of the month. Please speak to us if you are having
problems paying on the date on your bill. This might mean that we
ask you to change the way you pay.
How to make sure that monthly payments are made on time
Paying your bill in a different way may help. For example you
could make payments from your bank account by direct debit.
Council Tax Direct Debit
If you have an account with a bank or building
society, direct debit is a payment method which means
that you don't have to worry about remembering to pay your council
tax each month. Direct debit is an automated way of paying the
bill.
What are the benefits to me?
- The choice of five monthly payment dates, 1st, 5th ,15, 24th or
end of the month.
- No worrying about remembering to pay.
- No late payments, reminders or summonses.
- No cheques to write out or cash to carry.
- No worry of cheques getting lost or stolen in the post.
- No queuing at banks or post offices.
- Protection through the Direct Debit Guarantee scheme.
How does it work?
Once your bank or building society has accepted that a direct
debit can be paid from your account, we will ask them for your
council tax instalment to be paid at the frequency you have chosen.
All the work is then done by us. We notify you in advance of the
payments for the year and give you at least 14 days prior notice in
writing. We will issue you with advice regarding any amendments to
your payments at least 14 days before the payment is due. This
gives you time to query or, if required, cancel your direct debit.
Once the direct debit is set up, you do not have to fill in a new
form every year unless you change your bank or building
society.
Why should I change from my existing payment
method?
We are committed to providing the most efficient council tax
collection service. It is our aim to get as many customers as
possible to pay using direct debit because it is the cheapest and
most efficient method of collection with benefits for both you and
us. There are also environmental benefits to be gained by paying by
Direct Debit because it reduces the amount of paper we use to
produce reminders and you can also have your annual bill sent to
you by email.
What are the guarantees?
- The efficiency and security of the Scheme is monitored and
protected by your own bank or building society.
- If the amounts to be paid or the payment dates change we will
notify you at least 14 days in advance of your account being
debited.
- If we make an error or one is made by your bank or building
society you are guaranteed a full and immediate refund from your
branch of the amount paid.
- You can cancel the Direct Debit at any time by writing to your
bank or building society. It will be necessary for you to send us a
copy of the letter.
How do I change to Direct Debit?
You can either complete and submit your details on line by clicking
here, or phone the direct debit hotline on 0151 443 4476
and supply your bank details over the phone to set up a direct
debit. Before you phone please make sure that you have your bank or
building society name and account, sort code and branch address
available. These details can be found in your cheque book. If you
are not the bank account holder, or more than one person is needed
to authorise debits on this account then a paper direct debit
Instruction needs to be completed. A paper direct debit Instruction
will also need to be completed if this is a business account that
needs more than one person to authorise debits on the
account.
Download your paper direct debit form by
clicking here.
What if I can’t afford to pay the amount
requested?
If you have received a reminder notice, please contact the
council immediately, using the contact details on the notice, as it
may be possible to make alternative arrangements for you to
pay.
If you have received a final notice, it may still be possible
for you to pay by instalments by direct debit. Please contact the
council for further details.
Magistrate's court summonses
A summons will be issued if the council's records show that your
council tax has not been paid by the due dates. This is because we
have to apply to the court for a liability order. If we send a
summons, we will add £45 costs to your outstanding council tax
balance. If the full amount of outstanding council tax plus costs
are paid before the liability order hearing date, there will be no
more costs added.
If the council tax bill is in more than one name each person
will have received a summons. This means that each person is
jointly and severally liable for the whole debt. The named people
need to decide who should pay the debt but where payment is not
received, the council can continue to recover the full amount from
either.
If you think for any reason that the amount shown on the summons
is wrong, you should contact us before the court date.
The court hearing
Most people contact the council before the hearing date to make
an arrangement for payment. This doesn’t stop the case being heard,
but if the arrangement is accepted and kept to, no further action
will be taken on the liability order.
You do not have to attend court, if you have made a payment
arrangement. At the hearing, the council will provide evidence to
the court that you are liable for the council tax, but that it has
not been paid. If the court is satisfied with this evidence it will
issue a liability order.
If you decide to attend please note that the court cannot take
into account your ability to pay. The court is only being asked to
say that you are liable to pay.
It costs £15 to issue a liability order. These costs will be
added to your outstanding council tax balance and any payment
arrangement made.
A liability order
A liability order gives the council more ways to recover council
tax including:
- Using bailiffs, which may involve the sale of some of your
property and will add more costs to the amount owed.
- Obtaining information about your employment, earnings or
benefit.
- Deductions from your earnings, income support, jobseekers
allowance or employment support allowance.
A letter will be sent to you after the court date.
Paying the summons
Once we have a liability order, we will write to tell you this.
If you have already made a suitable payment arrangement with us,
then no further action is required. If no arrangement has been
made, as well as the liability order notice, you will be sent a
request for financial information form. You must fill this in,
telling us what you can pay. We will tell you if your offer is not
enough, and you should pay the amount you offered in the
meantime.
We may not accept your offer of payment if it will take too long
to clear the amount owed.
Your credit rating
A magistrates' court summons for non-payment of council tax will
not affect your credit rating. It is a private matter between you
and the council and lists are not provided to any credit
agency.
Council Tax - Attachment of Earnings Orders (guidance
notes for employers)