Help if you're struggling to pay your Council Tax
If you're struggling to pay your Council Tax instalments, it's important that you let us know so that we can help you avoid falling behind.
Whatever the circumstances do not ignore your bill. Recovery action will continue if you do not pay.
Set up a Direct Debit
To help spread out the Council Tax instalments equally, you can set up a Direct Debit.
This should help make the payments more manageable and ensure that you don't miss a payment.
Pay over 12 monthly instalments
You can pay your Council Tax instalments over 12 months instead of 10 months to help lower your monthly cost.
12 monthly instalments are only available at the start of the tax year (from 1 April to 1 March), but we can spread your remaining instalments through to 1 March if you are up to date with your payments.
Contact us about your concerns
If you are unable to pay an instalment due to a one-off circumstance you should contact us before the payment is due.
We can:
- spread the missed payment over your remaining instalments
- push back your instalments so that they end a month later (if you pay over 10 months)
Council Tax discounts and reductions
If you're struggling to pay your Council Tax, you could see if you are eligible for:
- a Council Tax Reduction (if you are unemployed or on a low income)
- a Council Tax discount (if you live alone, have a disability or are not counted for Council Tax)
Other schemes that can help
Council Tax arrears are a 'priority debt' which means that it should be paid before other debt like credit cards.
If you are struggling to pay your Council Tax due to financial difficulties, you could:
- see if you are eligible for any Department of Work & Pensions (DWP) benefits
- view our help with the cost of living webpages for advice and support with debt, bills and food
- use the Money & Pension Service (MAPS) to get in touch with free debt advisors