Problems paying your Council Tax

If you're having problems finding the money to pay your Council Tax, you can check your eligibility for Council Tax Reduction and Council Tax discounts and exemptions.

If you have already applied for a Council Tax Reduction but you believe that you (or a member of your household) will suffer exceptional hardship if you do not receive further assistance, you should apply for the Exceptional Hardship Fund.

You can also change the instalments for paying your Council Tax from 10 months to 12 months.

If you are struggling to pay or have missed a payment, please contact us immediately.

If you don't pay your Council Tax

If you miss a Council Tax instalment for the first time, we will send you a reminder notice that will give you 7 days to pay. If you do not pay the full amount shown on the reminder within 7 days, the council may apply to the Magistrates Court for a summons to be issued for the whole year's Council Tax.

If you miss a payment for a second time, you will receive another reminder notice. If you do not pay the full amount within 7 days, the council may apply to the Magistrates Court for a summons to be issued for the whole year's Council Tax. 

We will only send a maximum of 2 reminder notices each Council Tax year.

If you miss a payment for a third time, we will send you a final notice which cancels your right to pay by monthly instalments and ask you to pay the rest of the whole year's Council Tax. If you still do not pay the full amount within 14 days of the final notice, the council may apply to the Magistrates Court for a summons to be issued for the whole year's Council Tax, plus additional costs.

If you have Council Tax arrears, you can bring the remaining balance forward to the next Council Tax year providing no summons has been issued.
 

Other advice

You may find the information and advice about paying your council tax on the GOV.UK website useful. 

You can contact Citizens Advice, or look at the information on the Money Helper website.

Problems using My Council Tax

My Council Tax is our online system for setting up a direct debit, applying for some discounts or exemptions, and telling us you've moved home.

You can also sign up for a My Council Tax account to be able to:

• view your account information
• check your bills and payments
• change your details online
• switch to paperless or e-billing

If you're having trouble setting up or logging into My Council Tax, please contact the Council Tax Team.

Problems paying online

If you're trying to pay your Council Tax online but have run into technical problems, tell us about the issue and we'll investigate.

If you are unable to pay online as a result of these technical problems and you need to make a payment, please try paying by a different method. You can find other ways to pay your Council Tax on our Pay your Council Tax page.