What happens if I don't pay my Council Tax?

Before you contact us, it may help you to:

• make a list of your income and outgoings
• work out how much you can afford to repay each week or month

If you still don’t pay and you're working, we may apply to your employer to take it directly from your salary. If you're on benefits, we may recover the debt from your benefits payments. Otherwise we will use enforcement agents to collect the debt.

Follow this link for ways to pay your council tax.

Request an arrangement

After a Liability Order is granted in favour of the council by the Magistrate, we can instruct the Department for Works and Pensions or your employer to make deductions from your benefits or your earnings.

There are two types of attachment that can be requested:

• attachment of benefits
• attachment of earnings

Follow this link for more information on Council Tax Attachments.

From 6 April 2014 all bailiff action and the fees that can be charged will be governed by the Tribunals Courts & Enforcement Act 2007. As a result of this, bailiffs are now referred to as enforcement agents.

The fees that will be applied after 6 April when collecting a debt are listed below.

1. Compliance stage fee

£75

This fee is due as soon as the case is received by the Enforcement Agent and covers all activity up to the first commencement of the enforcement stage.

2. Enforcement stage fee

£235 plus 7.5% of the value of the original debt which exceeds £1,500

This stage comprises all activity from the first attendance at the premises in relation to the instruction.

3. Sale stage fee

£110 plus 7.5% of the value of the original debt which exceeds £1,500

This stage commences with the first attendance at the property for the purpose of transporting goods to the place of sale.

The above fees are fixed and set by government.

If you have a current case and enforcement action is necessary – you WILL be subject to the above fees. To avoid these fees you must ensure that you keep to any payment arrangement that have been agreed.

We would prefer not to use enforcement agents to collect Council Tax or Non-domestic Rates. Nevertheless we won't hesitate to do so if you:

• haven't responded to earlier recovery action
• have responded, but have failed to keep strictly to arrangements, or if you have a poor payment record

We make special efforts to be sensitive to vulnerable people.

Vulnerable people are defined as:

• pensioners
• disabled people
• single parent families
• unemployed people
• mental handicap or mental confusion
• long-term sickness, serious illness or frailty
• deafness or blindness or limited sight or hearing
• recent bereavement (for example if a close family relative has died

Follow this link to learn more about enforcement agent's powers.

You can contact us and ask us to withdraw the enforcement agent. We only do this if you offer to pay back the debt. You should not offer to repay the debt at a rate you cannot afford.

What happens when an enforcement agent visits?

However hard we try, occasionally things go wrong. Please help us to put them right.

You may want to complain if you think we have:

• not treated you fairly
• not treated you politely
• not done something you think we should have done
• done something badly

Follow this link for further information on how to complain about an enforcement agent.

Find out about Luton bailiffs (enforcement agents) or pay a bailiff debt here.