Council Tax Arrears Guide
Council Tax Arrears
What to do if you get behind with payments?
If you have council tax arrears, you will need to contact your local council andmake an arrangement to repay them. You will normally be expected to clear your arrears within the current financial year, which ends on 31 March. If you can’t afford this, work out what you can afford and tell the council.
You may beable to arrange a longer repayment period if you are on a low income or havespecial circumstances, for example, if you have a short term drop in yourincome due to illness. You will need to pay an amount off the arrears on top ofyour usual monthly council tax payment.
Check your council tax bill is right
Depending on your situation, you may be entitled to a discount or reductionin your council tax bill. If you live alone or are the only person responsible forthe council tax, you should get a discount.
You may be able to claim Second Adult Rebate if you have to pay counciltax and you live with someone else, other than your partner. The other personmust be 18 or over, not paying rent, not responsible to pay council tax, andhave income below a certain amount. If your own income is below a certainlevel, you may be entitled to Council Tax Benefit instead. When you claim,the council should work out which benefit will give you the most help with yourcouncil tax. You can get a claim form for Council Tax Benefit and SecondAdult Rebate from your council.
If you, or someone living with you, has a disability, you may be able to gethelp to reduce your council tax bill bill.
If you are a full-time carer or someone in your home has severe mentalimpairment, you may get a discount. Severe mental impairment can includethings like Alzheimer’s disease and serious learning disabilities.
If your home has been adapted for a person with a disability, you may be ableto get a disability reduction. The person with the disability can be anyoneliving in your home. It doesn’t have to be the person paying the council tax.
Ask your council for an application form for a discount for a carer or personwith severe mental impairment, or a disability reduction. You can ask for all ofthese if they apply to your situation.
What happens if you don’t pay
If you fail to pay off your council tax arrears, or to reach an agreement with thecouncil, your council can apply to the local magistrates’ court for a liabilityorder. This is a court order which says that you must pay the whole amount ofcouncil tax owed for that year, not just the arrears. The liability order allowsthe council to take action against you to make you pay.
If you owe the council tax jointly with someone else, the council can still askyou to pay the whole amount back.
You will be sent a summons. This is a court document telling you how muchthe council says you owe and the date and time of the hearing where thecourt will consider whether to make the liability order. The council can addcosts to the amount you owe to pay for the liability order.
You should contact the council and try to make arrangements to pay off thedebt before the hearing. You won’t be able to do this at the hearing itself. Thecouncil might agree to let you pay off the debt in instalments, if you can’tafford to pay it all straight away. If you do make an agreement to pay, thecouncil may be willing to cancel the summons or to cancel (waive) the courtcosts, provided you keep to the arrangement.
If you don’t agree you owe the council tax, for example because you’ve beencharged for a period when you no longer lived at that address, tell the councilstraight away. If they agree, they can stop the court action. If they don’t agreeor you can’t contact the council, you will need to go to the court hearing at thetime shown on the summons.
What happens at the liability order hearing
At the liability order hearing, the magistrates will decide whether you are theperson responsible for paying the council tax and make a liability order.
If you agree that you are responsible for paying the council tax, you don’tneed to go to the hearing.
If you don’t agree that you’re responsible, you should go to the hearing and tryand prove this to the court. You will need to bring proof with you, for examplea bill showing your name and real address. If the magistrates agree that youdon’t owe the council tax, they will not make a liability order.
If a liability order, is made, the council can:
• ask the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to makedeductions from your benefit, or
• instruct your employer to make deductions from your wages(attachment of earnings order), or
• send bailiffs to your home to seize your belongings. In somecircumstances, bailiffs can use reasonable force to get into your homeand seize goods, or
• make you bankrupt (if you owe £750 or more), or
• apply for a charging order (if you owe £1000 or more). A charging order gives the council powers to force you to sell your property andpay off the council tax debt out of any money left after the mortgagehas been repaid. This doesn’t happen very often. Get advice if it happens to you.
If none of these things have worked, the council can apply to the magistrates’court for a warrant to send you to prison (a committal warrant). The council will do this if it believes you’ve got the money to pay but are deliberately with holding it, or aren’t making an effort to pay.
You will be sent another summons, called a committal summons. This time,you should go to the court hearing. If you don’t, you could be arrested. If you can’t attend the court hearing for any reason, contact the council and arrange another time for the hearing. Try to come to an arrangement with the council that you can afford beforehand, if you can. The council can add further costs to your debt, to pay for the court summons and hearing.
What happens at the committal hearing
At the committal hearing, the magistrates must look in detail at your financialsituation to see if you can pay. This is called a means enquiry. Tell themagistrates about any special reasons why you haven’t been able to pay, forexample, a drop in your income or changes within your family. This will helpthem to decide what order to make. If you are in financial hardship or cannot pay for other reasons, you can ask the magistrates to write off (remit) all or part of the debt.
If the council can show you have refused or not made an effort to pay, the magistrates could send you to prison. Usually though, they will make an orderpostponing the warrant to send you to prison, as long as you pay off the debtby regular instalments.
You can ask someone to go with you to the court hearing if you need help toexplain your situation. The court doesn’t have to let the other person speak onyour behalf, unless they are a solicitor. You may qualify for help to pay for asolicitor under Legal Aid, or the court may have a duty solicitor you can speak to when you get there.
After the committal order has been made
After the committal hearing, make sure you understand what you must payand when the payments are due. If you are not sure, ask the council officer to explain. You must stick to the payments until all the money is paid off. If yourcircumstances change or you are unable to pay for any reason, contact thecouncil straight away and make another arrangement. Otherwise, they mayhave you arrested and brought back to the court to say why you haven’t paid.