If you do not pay your Council Tax

You do not need to attend the court hearing if you accept the court summons. 

If you disagree with the summons, you must attend the court hearing and show legal evidence why. This evidence is known as ‘valid defences’

Valid defences accepted by the court

The set defences to stop a liability order include:

1. The property named on your court summons is not shown as an entry in the Council Tax valuation list.
2. The Council Tax has not been properly set by us.
3. The bill and recovery notices have not been issued correctly.
4. The unpaid amount has been paid in full.
5. More than 6 years have passed since the day the bill was issued.
6. Bankruptcy or winding up proceedings have started.

You should not attend court if you do not meet any of the listed defences.

If you can show you have a valid defence

Contact us before your court hearing if you can prove one of the listed defences.

Contact us

If a liability order is given at court

A liability order gives us the legal powers to collect your Council Tax debt.

We can use any of the following collection options:

• take deductions from your salary or wages (known as ‘attachment of earnings’)
• take deductions from your welfare benefits
• pass your debt to a bailiff (also known as ‘enforcement agents’)
• secure the unpaid debt against property that you own (known as a 'charging order')
• start insolvency proceedings against you (known as ‘bankruptcy’ or ‘winding up’)
• apply for an arrest warrant for prison (known as ‘committal’)

What happens next

Find out how we recover unpaid Council Tax.