Debts and arrears

Managing your council tax payments

You can view your Council Tax payments and account online. If you have linked your council tax to your Mythreerivers account you can also view the information there.

You can:

• check and confirm if your payments have been received
• view your instalment amounts and payment dates
• view your balance
• change the dates of your Direct Debit

It is important to pay your Council Tax as billed so that you can avoid debt recovery action.

If you can't pay

If you can't pay

If you are struggling to afford payments, check to see if you qualify for a council tax reduction by visiting our benefits and support page.

Whatever the circumstances, please do not ignore the bill. Recovery action will continue in the meantime if you do not pay.

Reminder notices

You will receive a reminder if you have failed to pay your instalments in accordance with the original demand notice. You are required to pay the outstanding amount to bring your account up to date within the next 7 days. If you fail to do so, this will result in the full balance becoming due after 14 days.

Making a payment

• View information on accepted payment methods

If you receive two reminder notices within a billing year (1 April to 31 March), a final notice may be issued.

If you have received a reminder for an address you have moved out of, make sure you have notified us of this. You must continue to pay your council tax until the closing bill is issued.

Missing payments

If you are sure that you made the payment on time, you can check your Council Tax payments and account online to see when your payment was received. If you have linked your council tax to your Mythreerivers account, you can also view the information there. If you have checked and your payment is not showing, contact us with evidence that a payment was made.

Evidence can include one of the following:

• your bank or credit card statement showing where your payment has been made
• a receipt for your payment
• any other valid proof that you have to show the payment in question

Final notices

If you have already received two reminder notices within the same billing year we will send you a Final Notice.

A final notice means that you must pay the total amount outstanding for the rest of the financial year within seven days.

If you do not pay the balance in full, we will start recovery action through the magistrates court.

You will be able to check which payments were late and when the reminder notices were sent on your  Council Tax account online.  If you have linked your council tax to your Mythreerivers account, you can also view the information there.

If you believe you shouldn't have been sent a Final Notice, you can find out how to dispute the claim below.

Payment options

When you are sent a final notice, you lose the right to pay by instalments or make other payment arrangements. You can:

• Pay the full balance online
• Pay the full balance by phone by calling 0345 606 6465. The line is open 24/7. You will need your Council Tax account reference number when paying by phone

This is the last notice that you will receive before a summons is sent. To avoid getting into further debt, find out how to manage your payments.

Missing payments

If you are sure that you made the payment on time, you can check your Council Tax payments and account online to see when your payment was received. If you have linked your council tax to your Mythreerivers account, you can also view the information there.  If you have checked and your payment is not showing contact us with evidence that a payment was made.         

This can be one of the following:

• your bank or credit card statement showing where your payment has been made.
• a receipt for your payment.
• any other valid proof that you have to clearly show the payment in question.

Other reasons for disputing a final notice

• If you did not receive the bill or reminders, then you can check them on your Council Tax account online. If you have linked your council tax to your Mythreerivers account, you can also view the information there. You must pay the amount shown on the notice. Not receiving a bill or reminder notice is not a valid defence against a summons.
• If you have not paid because you cannot afford it, you should check to see if you qualify for a reduction. Recovery action will continue in the meantime if you do not pay.
• If you have received a notice for an address you have moved out of, you can let us know.
• If you have recently set up a Direct Debit, check your Council Tax account online to see if it has been set up. If you have linked your council tax to your Mythreerivers account you can also view the information there. You will need to pay any payments shown as outstanding.

You must always pay your council tax while waiting for a decision on any type of application.

Summons

You will receive a summons if:

• you didn't pay the correct amount as per the instalments shown on your bill
• you didn't pay as per the due date shown on your bill on more than one occasion
• your payments didn't reach your council tax account by the due date when the summons was issued

The summons will give details of the amount of unpaid Council Tax plus our costs and the date of the court hearing.

Pay the summons

If you agree that you are responsible to pay the debt, you can either:

• pay the full balance including the summons costs.
• contact the council tax office immediately to discuss a short term payment arrangement.
• You can make the payment either online or by calling 0345 606 6465. The line is open 24/7. You will need your Council Tax account reference number when paying by phone

If you do not take action we will apply to the magistrates’ court for a liability order. The liability order will ask you to pay the full balance within 14 days. To avoid court action you can still contact us to discuss a short term arrangement to pay the balance due.

For more details see how we recover Council Tax debts.

Disputing a summons

If you are disputing the summons please contact the council tax office immediately and before the court hearing date so that we can resolve any issues you may have.

The court hearing

If you believe that you do not owe or should not have to pay the Council Tax, then you must contact the Council before the hearing. You do not need to attend court unless you dispute the councils claim that you are liable.
 

How we recover council tax debts

If you’ve received a summons and don't pay the outstanding balance or set up a payment plan by the court date, we will obtain a Liability Order to recover the debt.

We will send you a letter with details of the Liability Order and the action we may take to recover the debt. The letter will also include a financial statement which you will need to complete and return to us. When we have received the financial statement we will make arrangements with you to clear your debt based on your personal circumstances.

If you don't return the financial statement or cooperate with us we will use one of the following methods to recover the debt.

Attachment to earnings

An attachment of earnings order means we can order your employer to deduct a regular amount from your salary and pay it directly to your council tax arrears. The amount your employer deducts will depend on how much you earn.  If this puts you in financial hardship please contact us as we may be willing to accept smaller payments.

Deductions from benefits

If you receive Universal Credit, Income Support (IS), Job Seeker's Allowance (JSA), Employment Support Allowance (ESA) or Guarantee Pension Credit (GPC), we may apply for deductions to be made directly from your benefits.

Enforcement Agents (bailiffs)

Your debt will be passed to one of our nominated Enforcement Agents to recover on our behalf. Once it has been handed to the Enforcement Agents you will need to discuss your debt with them directly. This action will incur additional fees at each stage of the enforcement process.

Enforcement Agents:

• have the right to peaceful entry to your home
• can't force entry unless they have a signed Control of Goods Agreement
• have the power to remove certain goods to clear the debt, if you are not able to pay the debt in full
• can't remove goods belonging to your landlord -  you will need to provide proof of ownership if you are a tenant

Charging orders and Orders for Sale

If you owe £1000 or more in council tax we may apply to the County Court for a charging order on your property. If the balance remains unpaid we can apply for an order for sale to force the sale of the property to clear the amount owed.

Bankruptcy and liquidation

Insolvency proceedings may commence if you do not pay the money you owe. Proceedings may be against an individual or a limited company.

Prison

We may take this step if other means of recovery have been unsuccessful.

In these circumstances, we will issue a summons for you to attend a committal hearing at the magistrates' court. It will then be for the magistrates to decide on matters of wilful refusal and culpable neglect. The maximum period of imprisonment is three months.

Vulnerable persons

We may consider taking the debt back from the Enforcement Agents if we have evidence that you are vulnerable.

If you consider yourself to be vulnerable please contact us or the Citizen’s Advice Bureau for help and advice 0800 144 8848