What happens if I am late with council tax bill once?

[Lima89]

Anybody know?

You will get a reminder letter from your council saying you have missed a payment. Please contact us if you are struggling to pay

What can I do if I cannot afford the bill? recently become a single parent and struggling financially and because it was almost the end of the year my payments have been £250pm

Speak to Citizens Advice - they are very helpful. Please try to do this before your CT bill is due, if you can, to avoid any penalties for late payment.

Ring them and speak to tgem. There may be benefits you are entitled to or they may be able suggest other ways of managing it. If you ignore it they will eventually prosecute but they will try to help you as much as they can.

Your payments shouldn't change just because it's the end of the year. It should be the same amount every month. Are you sure thats correct.

Are you getting the 25% discount you're entitled to if there is only one adult living in the house?

I thought you didnt pay in Feb and March anyway am I right?

Call your council, explain your situation and ask for a payment plan to be put into place. If you are now the only adult living at the property you will be eligible for a 25% single persons discount. You may also be eligible for council tax support. Call your council and ask to speak with both the benefits and revenues teams to see what help is available. They will help you if you ask. If you just ignore it you will keep getting automatically issued reminders and then a court order.

Get in touch with your local council and inform them of your change of circumstances and ask about any benefits you are entitled to.

Which months do you get a break from council tax?

That depends on how it's set up. We pay it over 12 months. Some pay it over 10 months. If you have it set up over 10 months you could ask if you could pay the final month over 3 months. The worst thing you can do is ignore it, call them and say you are struggling to pay and see what they can suggest and do it quickly.

if you chose that set up, its Feb & March.

But i pay over 12 months to lower the monthly outgoings.

Speak to them to work something out.

We accidentally underpaid ours one month (it was only a few pence due to a typo ) once and quickly got a nasty threatening letter about it.

It’s best to contact them before you miss as they can either hold your account for a delayed payment or arrange alternative payment plan.

if your paying your ctax over 10 months you won’t pay Feb or march. You could arrange to either have a lower payment splitting it over jan, Feb and march or just arrange to pay it in 1 month in Feb.

Whether you pay in 10 installments or 12 installments the amounts should be the same, maybe one installment will be a little different to tally up.

Why are your payments more due to it being year end? Are you sure thats correct?

Well we split up in Novemeber and I received a new bill for single person. £250 in January and £250 in feb?

GenerallyI do pay it, just struggling since becoming a single parent

Is it just January's overdue? Usually if you default the balance fir the year be ones due and you cannot opt for monthly instalments. Have you registered as a single adult?

We once didn’t pay for 6 months and nothing happened. We didn’t realise the direct debit wasn’t going through (I know we could have checked).

I paid on 7th Jan, got another due on 7th Feb. I have registered as single adult and it is still that much

If you generally pay over 10 months, then March and April are cost free. Just try to make up the arrears then.

I wasnt sure if it was Feb and March, so its March and April I dont pay?

25% single persons discount and pay it over 12 months to lower the overall payment.

It depends on your council. My last payment is 1st Jan, so no payment 1st Feb, 1st March.

You can set up an online login to check your account with most councils.