Problems paying your Council Tax
What happens if I don't pay my Council Tax?
If you are having difficulties paying your bill, please contact us to make a payment arrangement - don't wait for recovery action to be taken against you as costs could be added.
You can create your own payment arrangement online. If you haven't already, you'll need to register for myAccount. myAccount is a simple and secure sign-in service for managing your Council Tax.
This means you do not have to call or email with your request.
Money advice for residents of Derby
- Citizens Advice - telephone 0808 2787972
- Money Advice Service - free and impartial money advice by the Government
- Step Change - an organisation providing free debt advice
Money advice for Derby Homes residents
Derby Advice provides free, confidential and independent advice on all welfare benefits. Visit our Money Advice page for more information.
Reminder notice
If you don't pay your Council Tax by the due date, we'll send a reminder notice. A reminder notice is normally issued around 10 days after an instalment is due.
If the reminder and further payments are not paid on time, then the right to pay by instalments is cancelled and the full amount left for the year becomes due.
If the full amount isn't paid, a court summons may be sent to you within 21 days of the reminder being sent. This adds costs to the amount due which are payable by you.
Court summons
If you receive a summons for non-payment of Council Tax and you wish to dispute the charge, query the summons or would like to discuss an arrangement to pay, please contact us. The court cannot accept payment or make any arrangements.
You have the right to attend the court hearing to present your case to the Magistrates' Court. However, you do not need to attend if you have made arrangements to pay.
If you don't pay the amount on the summons, we will apply to the Magistrates' Court for a liability order.
Liability order
A liability order gives us the right to obtain information about your income and employment. Various steps can be taken to recover your debt:
- Attachment of earnings order - An order to deduct payments from your wages.
- Deductions from benefits - An order can be made against state benefits.
- Enforcement agents (formerly known as bailiffs).
Your case will be passed to enforcement agents to recover the debt. More fees will become payable by you. Enforcement agents can take goods from your home to clear the arrears.
Charging/bankruptcy petition
If you have still not paid, we can take further action and may apply for a charging order or a bankruptcy petition or winding up proceedings against limited companies.
- A charging order is an order from the court placed on your property (house or land) for monies owed to us for Council Tax. The court can place a charging order on your property so that when the property is sold you will have to pay that debt off first before any of the proceeds are given to you.
- If you or your company owe more than £5,000 in Council Tax and you have been summonsed, we may start bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings against you.
If the enforcement agents cannot recover the arrears, we may apply to the Magistrates' Court for a warrant to send you to prison.