What happens if I dont pay my council tax?

What happens if I dont pay my council tax?

The council is committed to ensuring that council tax bills are kept as low as possible. Prompt collection means that the council has to spend less on sending reminders and final notices and if the cash is collected promptly the council benefits from improved cash flow.

Your council tax bill shows you how much you need to pay and when your payments are due. Monthly instalments are payable on the first of the month. If you pay through the post office, or through the bank you should allow extra time for your payment to reach us.

Reminder and final notices

If you do not pay instalments when they fall due you will receive a reminder notice telling you to bring your account up to date.

If you do not make a payment the next notice you receive will be a summons. This is because by paying nothing the right to pay by monthly instalments is lost and the whole year becomes payable in advance.

If you pay the instalment shown on the reminder but then fail to pay the next one you will receive another reminder notice. If you then fail to pay the next one you will receive a final notice cancelling the instalment facility.
If you are having genuine difficulty in making payments you should contact the Council Tax Office straight away and we will do our best to help you.

Do not ignore the reminder notice because if we have to continue with recovery action against you, you may have to pay extra costs.

Please note that if you pay nothing or pay late resulting in a final notice your right to pay by instalments is lost and the full outstanding balance becomes payable in advance. If you do not pay the amount outstanding or make an acceptable payment arrangement with us, usually by direct debit, to clear the balance of your account we will continue with recovery action.

Summonses

If after the issue of a Final Notice payment is not received or an acceptable payment arrangement made within 14 days, you will receive a Magistrates' Court summons incuring costs of £30.00, which are added to your account.

Liability order

If payment including costs is not made on the summons, application will be made to the Magistrates' Court for a liability order. This will involve a further £50.00 costs being added to your account. A liability order gives Hertsmere Borough Council the power to recover the debt from you in a number of ways. These include:

• An attachment to earnings order.
• An attachment to benefits order. 
• Passing your account to a bailiff which will involve further charges being incurred. 
• Commencing bankruptcy proceedings against you.
• Applying for a charging order against your property.