This is the process we follow if you don't pay your council tax, including reminders, the final notice and court proceedings.
Reminders
If you don't pay your council tax on time we'll send you a reminder notice. If you don't pay within 7 days and don't contact us, you'll lose the right to pay by instalments.
If you make the payment by the date requested, but miss another payment in the same year you'll be sent another reminder notice.
You'll get a maximum of 2 reminder notices every year.
If you miss a third payment and don't contact us you will get a final notice and you'll have to pay the whole year's council tax.
Text message reminders
Starting in June 2024, we are working with Telsolutions, a revenue collection agency.
Telsolutions contact residents who owe money on their council tax via SMS text reminder.
Texts will come from 'BristolCC' and will say that you currently have an outstanding matter with Bristol City Council Tax Dept.
Summons and court hearing
If you don't pay after a reminder or final notice, or you don't tell us why you're not liable to pay, you'll be sent a summons. You'll be summoned to court to explain why the council tax hasn't been paid.
Costs of up to £66.50 will be added to the unpaid council tax bill:
- £49.50 must be paid when the summons is issued
- an additional £17 will only need to be paid if the debt, including the £49.50, is not paid in full before the hearing and a liability order is made
You can avoid attending court, if you:
- pay the full amount shown on the summons, including court costs, before the date of the hearing
- contact us before the court hearing to arrange a payment plan covering what you owe (we will still obtain a liability order)
At the hearing we'll ask the magistrate to issue a liability order. A liability order gives the council more powers to help collect the money you owe. You don't have to go to the hearing, but if you do the magistrate will ask you if you have a valid defence which will stop the order being issued.
What we might do after a court hearing
If you still don't pay, we might:
- ask your employer to pay your unpaid council tax directly from your wages or we might take the money from benefits you get
- get an enforcement agent (bailiff) to collect what you owe, which could mean your possessions are removed and sold at auction, the cost of which will be added to your total amount owed to the council. There is more information on enforcement agents below
- apply a charging order against a property you own (if you owe more than £1,000) and the amount you owe will be paid when the property is sold
- take action to make an individual bankrupt if more than £750 is owed
- apply to the court to send you to prison for up to 3 months, though we'll only take this step if all other efforts have failed or aren't applicable
Enforcement agents
If attempts to reach a suitable payment plan have failed, we may pass your Council Tax debt to our enforcement agents (bailiffs) for collection, which will increase your debt.
The 3 stages of enforcement action are:
- The compliance stage: A fee of £75 is added to your account for each liability order we pass to the enforcement agent. During the compliance stage, the enforcement agent will contact you to collect full payment or agree a suitable payment plan.
- Enforcement stage: If you do not pay the debt or agree to a suitable payment plan during the compliance stage, an agent will visit your property to collect full payment or start the process of taking control of your goods. These will be sold at auction to clear your debts and any additional fees. A minimum fee of £235 is added to the amount you owe once your account moves to the enforcement stage. A further 7.5% will be charged on any debts above £1,500.
- Sale or disposal at auction: A further fee of £110 is added to the amount you owe, together with any sale or disbursement costs. A further 7.5% will be charged on any debts above £1,500.
The enforcement agents collecting the debt on our behalf are entitled to add fees in accordance with The Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014.
Enforcement agencies
We employ the following enforcement agencies:
Marston Recovery
Website: marstonholdings.co.uk
Email: generalenquires@marstonholdings.co.uk
Phone: 0333 320 1822
Bristow & Sutor
Website: bristowsutor.co.uk/pay
Phone: 0330 390 2010
The way in which we collect Council Tax is set out in our pdf corporate debt policy(255 KB) .