been charged council tax in feb and march for years even though I'm supposed to pay over 10 months

[ZingyCat]

I'm going to call them on Monday to check but has this happened to anyone else?

I pay council tax via direct debit over ten months, Just got the letter today confirming I pay over ten months and how much to pay etc..

They have taken it from my bank in feb and I'm assuming they will again in march, they did this last year and the year before but everyone I know who pays over 10 months doesn't pay it in feb and march.

could I ask for a refund?

Does the total for the 12 months they have taken it add up to the annual payment you are supposed to pay?
As annoying as it is, as long as you're not out of pocket it's an easy fix, just amend it back to 10 months.
Hopefully it adds up to more and you get a whopping rebate!

Can you check your bill?

Although generally only paid for 10 months you can ask for it to be paid over 12 ( slightly less to pay each month then). Are you sure you've not previously agree to pay 12 installments?

could I ask for a refund
Probably not as it's unlikely to be wrong. Just check your bill and see if your monthly payment x 12 equals it - it probably does.

everyone I know who pays over 10 months doesn't pay it in feb and march
Well of course not - because they're paying over 10 months, from April to Jan.

I would imagine that you’ve been put on the reduced monthly instalments over 12 months. Just check the total annual amount for your band and divide by 12 if it matches you haven’t been over charged. Chances are you’ll be able to switch to 10 months going forward but your bill will increase slightly

you won't be due a refund because the total you pay over 12 months will be the same as the total you would have paid over 10 months.

At some point you must have rang them and asked to be put on a 12 month payment plan - maybe during lockdown?

Check your bill online - see what the yearly payment was £2000 an if says 10 x £200 or 12 x £166

I’ve used figures to make simple

Standard legislation is 10 months, if a person wanted to pay weekly it was over 40 weeks and we had to send an accompanying letter stating that the 40 weeks were subject to the same stipulations that covered the monthly payers. This was because the government legislation only covered monthly payments (I am going off my memory as it has been a while since I did that job)

The 2 "free" months are not free you just pay a 12 month bill over 10 months. This is to allow time to collect in any monies owed before the next year of bills rolled round. Often when people moved house and a new bill was issued they missed a payment due to the notice we had to give for the new DD amount. That would see them make a payment in February.

The COL saw a lot of people move onto 12 monthly payments.

@ZingyCat your bill will state how many payments, the first one covers the odd pence and then the rest from May are all the same. I think you are on 12 monthly payments or you have moved house for 2025/2026.

Does the new letter today say 10 monthly payments for 2026/2027?

I'll be astonished if they've got this wrong.

You've probably agreed to pay in 12 installments at some point and forgotten about it.

We pay in 12 installments because why wouldn't you? I don't see the point of the 'free months' because to get to that stage you've overpaid during the previous 10 months.

@SesameLeafChomper we've paid over 12 months for years, possibly all the time we've lived in this house, which is 20 years.

We pay on the last day of each month, so they literally wait as long as possible for our money.

@Bjorkdidit I love 10mths as then has an extra £160 a month for 2 mths

yes I know I’ve paid it but prefer 10 x 160 then £133 x 12

check how many payments you made in the last 12 months. Mine comes out on last day of the month so doesn't come out on last day Feb or last day of March. I phoned and queried the 31st Jan payment one because I got confused and though it was my Feb payment coming out.

Have you made any changes this year? A teen leaving college so you lose single person status.

When mine was recalculated they spread it over 12 months so I had to message them and tell them to put it back to 10.

@Bjorkdidit if you wanted to pay over 12 months 20 years ago at the council I worked for you would have to submit an income and expenditure form. Many people wouldn't do that so stayed on 10 months.

Council Tax is a government tax collected locally. It is governed by legislation and case law. It used to be standard across the country but then councils were given powers over certain elements such as second home discounts which used to be 50%. Not great for areas with lots of second homed like Cornwall.

10 months is standard like when we agreed for people to pay weekly it was 40 weeks and not 52. Council Tax was rushed through so there are lots of issues with incorrect banding. For some things we applied to central government for clarification on as certain local things didn't fit into their extensive list of property or people exemptions.

yes letter I got today states I pay over 10 months, no change at all and I have lived here alone since 2018

It was an option on the form not a special 'I can't afford my council tax' option.

As others above say check your council tax statement. It may be that you have been paying slightly less per month than your contemporaries. You are going to feel a bit silly if you ring them on Monday demanding a refund and find that you haven't actually been paying any more than anyone else.

Be wary of a letter today, if it’s the bill for 2026/27. You need to look at the annual amount due for 2025/26 and compare it to you actual payments. If you find you have overpaid they will refund you. But you need to do some research first

Me too, I always make sure I spend the 'free months' on something rather than fritter it away.

This happend to us last year in February and they said it won’t happen in March (which it didn’t as I called them) but they wouldn’t refund me they knocked it off the next years bill - it’s really annoying!

I agree. I didn't find the difference between payments enough to make it worthwhile to not have the two 'free' months.

I use one of the months to pay for the boiler / cylinder service and dog's booster jabs so it works nicely!

It’s just a shame the free months aren’t Dec and Jan

that would be helpful

It depends on the council I think. Some of them take payments from May to February so you don't pay anything in March or April.

But you're lending the council £30 a month or whatever interest free for up to a year to get those 'free' months.

People are up in arms when the gas and electricity companies try to front load payments for bills due in Feb/March and I don't see how council tax is any different.

If you wanted to save for expenses in February and March you could put the money in your own savings account earn a bit of interest.

I chose to pay over 12 months. It means my monthly bills are lower than if I had to pay over 10 months.