Never paid council tax? Steps to resolve arrears

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Check your council tax liability, available reductions and repayment options, and understand the relevant enforcement process.

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If You Don’t Pay Your Council Tax, What Will Happen?

Contact the council promptly to check the bill and discuss an affordable arrangement. In England and Wales, the council may seek a magistrates’ court liability order and add permitted costs. It can then use recovery methods such as deductions from earnings or certain benefits, or enforcement agents. Scotland uses a different procedure.

In England, committal to prison is a last-resort court process requiring a finding of wilful refusal or culpable neglect after an inquiry into means. Inability to afford payment alone is not enough. Wales abolished imprisonment for council-tax non-payment. Do not ignore a summons; get free debt advice.

Debt Strategy	How It Can Help With Council Tax Arrears
Flexible Payment Arrangements	Local councils often offer the option to spread council tax payments over 12 months instead of the standard 10.
One-Off Payment	If affordable, pay the arrears or agree instalments. Any discretionary reduction must be assessed by the council; a lump sum does not automatically earn a discount.
Hardship Schemes	Council Tax Reduction (CTR) Discretionary Relief Hardship Funds Support for Vulnerable Individuals Current discretionary support (ask your council) Charitable Grants
Discounts and Exemptions	Check for eligibility for discounts (e.g., single-person discount of 25%) or exemptions (e.g., properties unoccupied due to the resident’s death, properties where everyone’s a full-time student, or someone qualifies to be disregarded because of severe mental impairment; the effect depends on the household and eligibility rules)
Deferred Payments	Some councils allow deferring payments wherein you’ll pay less now and make up for it later.
Challenge your Council Tax Band	If you believe your property’s council tax band is incorrect, you can challenge it to potentially lower future payments and refund previous overpayments.
Debt Solutions	Certain formal debt solutions like Debt Relief Orders (DRO), Bankruptcy, and Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVA) can potentially write off council tax arrears,
Professional Debt Advice	UK residents can seek free advice from debt organizations and charities for council tax guidance tailored to their specific financial situation.

How the introduction works

The Debt Advice Service can discuss your circumstances and explain available options, including their benefits, costs and risks.

Options depend on your circumstances. You decide whether to proceed.

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Who Has To Pay?

Liability depends on who lives in or owns the property and the legal hierarchy of responsibility. Partners can be jointly liable, but not every occupant is automatically liable. Discounts, exemptions and disregards have specific conditions.

For example, living alone can qualify for a single-person discount. A severe mental impairment disregard requires the relevant criteria; a mental-health diagnosis alone does not automatically qualify. Some students, apprentices and carers may qualify under separate rules. Ask the council to check eligibility using GOV.UK’s guidance.

Council-tax bands and valuation dates differ between England, Wales and Scotland. Check your property’s official band rather than using current market value or another country’s band table.

What if You Miss a Payment?

If you are late paying your council tax, before you go into arrears, your local authority will send you a reminder, and ask you to make payment within 7 days.

As long as you make payment within 7 days everything will be fine. However, the council will only allow you to do this twice a year.

If you don’t pay your council tax within 7 days, or you are late paying for a third time in a year, then the council will take away your ability to pay in instalments, and want you to pay the remainder for the year in one lump sum.

What if You Cannot Afford It?

Ask the council about Council Tax Reduction, discounts or exemptions and any discretionary hardship support. Eligibility and local schemes vary. Council Tax Benefit was replaced by Council Tax Reduction; do not rely on an old benefit name when applying.

Give the council a realistic budget and ask for affordable payments. Get free debt advice, especially if there is enforcement action or you cannot cover essentials.

About The Debt Advice Service

Use the enquiry form to request a call about your circumstances and available options. You decide whether to proceed.

Continue to the enquiry form

How do I appeal my bill?

If you think that your council tax bill is wrong, you need to write to your council and tell them why you think that your bill is incorrect. You can find out who your local council is here.

Your council will then reply to you within 2 months.

This reply will either:

Tell you you are correct, your bill is wrong, and a new bill will be sent.
Tell you that the bill is right and explain why.

If the council replies and says that your bill is wrong, you must carry on paying the amount on your old bill until a new one comes.

If you wish to appeal your council’s decision, or you don’t get a reply within 2 months, you can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. This is a free services but you need to pay for your own costs.

For your appeal to be valid, you need to:

2 months of the council telling you their decision
4 months after you first wrote to the council about your council tax bill.

If the Valuation Tribunal agrees with you and says that the council was wrong, your new bill will be sent along with your monthly adjustments.

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Some debt solutions have fees and may negatively affect your credit rating. MoneyNerd may receive a fee if you proceed with a debt solution through The Debt Advice Service. MoneyHelper offers free, impartial money guidance and help finding free debt advice.

Will Arrears Affect My Credit Score?

An ordinary council-tax liability order in England and Wales is not a County Court Judgment and is not normally recorded on your credit file. Arrears can still lead to serious enforcement and costs. Other proceedings, such as bankruptcy, can have separate credit-record consequences.

Scotland’s summary-warrant and earnings-arrestment procedures should not be described as an English CCJ process. Ask the council what stage the case has reached and seek advice about the correct procedure.

References

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