What happens if you do not pay your Council Tax

If we can't collect the money that you owe by using one of the methods listed through deducting your salary or benefits, we will start committal proceedings against you. This means you will be summoned to attend the magistrates’ court and further costs will be added to your account. 

If the magistrates think that you have the money to pay but are deliberately not paying, they may decide to send you to prison for up to 90 days. 

You can stop committal proceedings by paying the debt in full, or agreeing a payment arrangement with us. 

If you already have a Council Tax Connect account, you can log in and request a payment arrangement. 

Register for a Council Tax Connect account. 

A charging order is a restriction placed on your property. It means that when your property is sold, the debt, plus interests and costs are paid to us from the net proceeds of the sale. The charging order will remain against the title of the property as long as you owe the debt. We may choose to force the sale of your property to pay the outstanding debt. 

If you’ve received a charging order, you should seek independent legal advice. 

If the charging order is made final, then the charge or restriction will remain on your property until either: 

• the property is sold and your solicitor forwards the cost of the debt to us from the proceeds
• the debt (redemption fee) is paid in full and the Land Registry have removed the charge or restriction on the property (this may involve a further fee) 

If the debt exceeds £5,000, you will have to pay statutory interest too. This is chargeable from the date the interim order is awarded. 

If your home is in joint names  

If you own your home with somebody else but the Council Tax debt is in your name only, a charging order will only apply to your share of the property. 

A statutory demand is a written notification from us. It explains that if you don't pay your debt or agree a payment arrangement with us, we’ll start court bankruptcy proceedings.

This is extremely serious action and will badly affect your ability to get credit for a long time afterwards. You’ll also incur substantial additional costs between (up to and above £40,000 in some cases). Any properties or other assets you own can be sold to pay your debt.

You should seek independent advice about how bankruptcy would affect you.

To prevent this happening, you need to pay the debt in full, or agree a payment arrangement with us.

If you already have a Council Tax Connect account, you can log in and request an arrangement.

Register for a Council Tax Connect account.