Payment difficulties
If you are having difficulties paying your bill please get in touch with us straight away. Don't wait for a reminder or other threatening letter.
- Before you contact us
- What happens if I don't pay
- What happens if I don't pay the amount I am asked to pay on my reminder notice?
- What happens if I don’t pay the amount I am asked to pay on my final notice?
- What happens once a summons is issued?
- Do I have to go to court?
- What is a liability order?
List all the money you have coming in. Don't forget to include both yours and your partner's take home pay, benefits, income from people who live with you, and regular income such as works pension or maintenance.
Then list where your money goes. Your rent and mortgage are the most important bills followed by fuel and water. Council tax payments take priority over debts such as credit cards, catalogues and loans.
From this you will be able to see how much you can offer to pay and it will help us to come to an arrangement with you. We also prefer you to pay your Council Tax Account by direct debit so please contact us to arrange this if you do not already pay by this method.
When we sent you your council tax bill we told you how much you had to pay and when. If you do not pay as requested we will send you a reminder notice. If you are making regular payments, but are paying later than the dates shown on your council tax bill, you may receive a reminder notice because your payments are late. If you want to change the date your payment is due please contact us.
What happens if I don't pay the amount I am asked to pay on my reminder notice?
You must pay the amount shown on the reminder within 7 days, this will bring your account up to date, then you need to pay all your instalments on time in future, or you may lose the right to pay by instalments. If you don’t pay the amount due your name can be sent to the magistrates' court for a summons to be issued to you for non payment of council tax. Details of your council tax debt may also be passed to a debt collection agency to recover the debt on behalf of the council.
What happens if I don’t pay the amount I am asked to pay on my final notice?
You must pay the full amount you are asked to pay on the final notice within 7 days as you have lost the right to pay by instalments as you have not paid your instalments at the due time. If you don’t pay the amount due your name can be sent to the magistrates' court for a summons to be issued to you for non payment of council tax.
What happens once a summons is issued?
An arrangement to pay will be included with the summons. This arrangement includes the costs that will be applied for at the hearing. Paying the instalments does not stop court action. If you provide the details of your income and agree to pay the instalments by direct debit the costs may be removed from your account after the account is fully paid. Depending on the status of your account your summons may request payment in full.
It is your right to appear in court if you have been summonsed. However, you do not have to attend a court hearing but, the council will still request that £75 costs are awarded against you.
If you intend to attend the court hearing it may be advisable to contact the customer contact centre on 0161 909 6522 to discuss your account.
If you do not attend the hearing will go ahead without you and the liability order will be applied for (unless you have already paid the account in full).
If you choose to go to the court hearing, the magistrates will ask if you have a valid defence which will stop a liability order being granted.
The defences that the magistrates will take into account before deciding to grant a liability order are shown below:
- That: you have paid the council tax in full.
- The amount has not been legally demanded because a legal condition has not
been met, this means we have not done one or more of the following :
- Passed a resolution setting the tax that has been published in a local newspaper
- Sent a bill to you, giving you 14 days before you have to pay
- Sent either a reminder and/or final notice giving you seven days to make payment
- Sent the summons at least seven days after the full balance had to be paid
The council only has to prove notices were sent to you. We do not have to prove that you have received them.
If you do not have a valid defence, the magistrates will grant a liability order.
The following are not valid defences:
- You can't afford to pay
- You have applied for council tax benefit, or a discount, exemption or other reduction
- You have an outstanding appeal with the valuation tribunal
A liability order is granted by the courts to council’s in order to give the council more powers to help them to recover outstanding council tax.
A liability order allows us to take any of the following action if you do not pay your council tax.
We can:
- demand for information about your job or benefits
- take money from your wages
- take money from certain State Benefits
- take money from your allowance if you are an elected member of a council
- use enforcement agents who may take your goods to sell to cover the amount you owe
- ask for a 'charging order' to be made against your property
- make you bankrupt, or put a company into liquidation
- apply for you to be sent to prison
Certain recovery action may increase the amount you owe by adding costs, in order to avoid these additional costs you should pay your Council Tax account on time.
Who to contact
- Name
- Customer Services
- Address
- Civic Centre
Chorley Road
Swinton
SALFORD
M27 5AW - Telephone
- 0161-909 6502
- revenues@salford.gov.uk
This page was last updated on 24 June 2008
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