If you don't pay
When we sent you your Council Tax bill, we told you how much you had to pay and when. This is what happens if you don't pay as requested.
1. You receive a reminder notice
If you're making regular payments, but pay later than the dates shown on your Council Tax bill, you may receive a reminder notice because your payments are late. This notice will remind you it’s overdue and to bring your payments up to date within 7 days.
If you want to change the date your payment is due, you can set up a Direct Debit to be taken on a date of your choice.
2. You receive a second reminder notice
If we’ve sent you one reminder already and you paid it on time, but you’re late in paying an instalment again we’ll send you a second reminder.
A second reminder will warn you that the next time you’re late in paying, you’ll get a final notice or you may even get a summons.
3. You receive a final notice
A final notice will tell you that we’ve cancelled your instalments. It will also tell you that you have to pay everything you owe for the rest of the year within 7 days.
4. You receive a court summons
A magistrates court summons will be issued to you if you:
- Make an arrangement to pay but don’t keep it up to date
- Don’t pay anything
- Pay some but not the entire bill
- Ignore the final reminder entirely
We won’t send any further warnings before we send you the summons. If we send a summons, you will be charged for court costs. It’s always best to contact us if you can’t pay your bill on time.