Council Tax Arrears

Council tax (or community charge) arrears are a priority debt. This means non-payment could, after court action, result in the removal of essential items from your home by bailiffs and in some cases, ultimately imprisonment.

For the purpose of the advice given here, council tax arrears are defined as being outstanding payments from a previous year or years and no catch-up schedule has been agreed or is being kept to.

Am I entitled to a Discount?

Firstly, you should check whether you are entitled to a discount.

You may be able to reduce your bill if:

• the property is empty (in the case of a property you own but don't live in)
• only one adult lives there
• you are disabled
• you are a student
• you are a student nurse

If you're on a low income you may qualify for Council Tax Benefit.

A full Council Tax bill is based on at least two adults living in a home. If only one adult lives in a home (as their main home), the Council Tax is reduced by 25 per cent. The bill doesn't increase if there are more than two adults in the home.

Certain people aren't counted when working out the number of adults who live in your home. If the property isn't the main home of the people living there, then a discount may also apply.

For more information about council tax and those entitled to discount see Council Tax - A Guide To You Bill, a comprehensive guide published by the Government.

If you are experiencing payment difficulties; then speak to your local council explaining the situation. They will be agreeable to a repayment schedule that clearly demostates you are making your best efforts to catch-up.

Consequences of non-payment of council tax

A council tax demand is not to be ignored. If it reaches a magistrates court, they can decide to issue a liability or a committal to prison order. Please note, prison is only considered in extreme cases of can pay won't pay and fraudulent behaviour. The issue of a liability order usually comes with the extra fee of court costs (about £100) added on.

The order allows the court to pursue payment of the debts by several means, including

• Attachment of earnings (order your employer to deduct a regular amount from your wages)
• Appoint a bailiff to seize goods to cover the debt.
• Bankruptcy.

How Harrington Brooks Can Help Council Tax Arrears.

Many of our clients come to us with council tax arrears in additions to other debts. Many also advise us of such arrears once they are already on the plan. In either case, we can help. Our clients complete a common financial statement. This details their income and essential expenditure within guidelines acceptable to creditors. It defines how much they can afford to pay towards their debts each month or week. Council tax payments are classed as essential payments, so these must taken into account before consideration is given to other lower priority debts, such as unsecured loans.

Council tax payment for current year

These payments are included in the financial statement as an essential expense.

Council tax arrears for previous year

Liability order not issued?

In this case, our clients have two options:

• We can include these debts as part of a financial management plan, treating the local council as we would any other creditor. We would make an offer of payment to them, based on what the client can afford.
• The client can agree repayments directly with their council; these catch-up payments are included in the financial statement as an essential expense in addition to the current year's payments.

Liability order issued?
If a liability order has been issued, then we can't negotiate on a client's behalf, but we can include the payments as part of their expenditure statements, allowing affordable payments while not ignoring other creditors. We can't include such debts subject to a court order as part of a debt management plan. If bailiffs are instructed, we advice our clients to not let them in and call us immediately. If bailiffs have already entered the home of our clients and marked items for seizure then, we are not able to include the debt are part of a debt management plan; nor as part of the financial statement.