Receiving a Council Tax summons

You will receive a summons after a series of Council Tax non-payment reminders.

If you have received one or more reminders and failed to make the payment demanded, we have applied to the local Magistrates' Court and a summons has been issued against you.

Court costs of £92.50 have been added to your bill when the summons was issued and must be paid in addition to the outstanding balance of your Council Tax. Prior to 21 July 2018, the costs for a Summons was £95.

Guidance notes on receiving a summons

Please pay the amount demanded in full immediately. To pay the amount by three consecutive monthly instalments, complete and return the Direct Debit agreement included with the summons. If you disagree that you owe the amount shown on the summons for any reason, contact us before the hearing to discuss the matter.

Liability order

If you have failed to pay the balance demanded in full before the Court hearing date on the summons, we have obtained a Liability Order.

The cost of a liability order is £28, this is added to your bill, in addition to the summons costs of £92.50

Obtaining the Liability Order will incur further costs against you, and gives us powers to do one or more of the following:

• We can instruct a bailiff to collect the debt, which will incur you further costs 
• We can contact your employer to arrange for them to take the money you owe from your salary each month 
• We can arrange for the money that you owe to be taken from your income support and other state benefits, if you claim them. 
• In certain cases we could have a charge put on your property, forcing it to be sold. 
• We could begin legal proceedings to have you sent to prison for up to 90 days if a further Court hearing find you have not paid the Council Tax due to wilful refusal or culpable neglect

Contact us

To avoid any of the above actions being taken, please ensure your Council Tax is paid on time.

If, however, you do get into difficulty please contact us immediately.

Read more about our Council Tax collection guidance.