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

[Lima89]

Anybody know?

Don't ignore it. Usually when you don't pay the bill they send you a reminder, if you don't pay by the date given they ask for the full payment rather than the monthly instalment amount.
I don't know what would happen after that but if you don't get in touch and let them know you're struggling and need to work out an arrangement then they will think your just bumping them and it'll be much worse

I just need to change the date if poss

Contact the council tax department they will be able to help.

Give them a ring and go through it with them OP. Always better to get in there first with them. It's the sort of thing that can keep you up at night if you don't speak to them

I would contact them asap and explain, I've had to do this in the past when I became a single parent and things were tough, my local council were actually very helpful! Good luck 🙂

Have you looked on line at your council to see if you can get help with your council tax. You may be entitled to some council tax benefit.

I earn £20k 24 hours per week, think I am entitled to universal credit but y head has been a mess recently so not set anything up

I went to speak to mine in person and they sorted it for me. If you can, go down there in person or if you can't contact them online or by phone - they should do all they can to help you including payment plans for arrears.

If you haven’t changed address and you’ve split up from your partner, it’s likely that a new council tax account has been created. Your old account may well have credit on it.

Call the Council. Ask if there’s a credit on a previous account. Ask about single person discount and council tax support and let them know you are struggling financially. There may also be a discretionary fund you can access. Don’t worry, this can be sorted.

You need to ring the council - don't ignore it or bury your head in the sand. Council tax and rent are priority bills - they really need to be paid before anything else.

Definitely call them - they won’t take any action if they know you are trying to deal with it. They can spread the payments out over the remaining months. And do get a benefit check from Citizens Advice or try it online at Turn2us website. You might be eligible for some help.

It's a risky game to play, missing a payment, as then it's all too easy to miss the next - and then you're into the big problems. It's a priority debt with good reason, and the consequences of messing up the routine of paying it can do you over for years with the recovery process.

I'd knock any other bill and eat plain rice for a month whilst sitting in a dark, unheated home (with well fed animals, naturally) and walking miles to work before I'd even think of missing a council tax payment.

Great advice for someone with children 🙄

That's outrageous!

OP speak to the council they will be happy to help. I have been through this and they spread the payments out for me while I set up my tax credit claim which I became entitled to once I became a single parent.
Heating and proper food are a priority. Yes council tax is important but so is your health. They will help though so give them a call and don't ignore it

I used to work in the council tax team and we would happily set up a payment plan or spread payments over 12 months for these circumstances. Best to call them and explain, they deal with this type of thing all the time. You’ll usually get a reminder letter then another final reminder letter for the overdue amount.
Your bill may be a bit different this yr due to Single Persons Discount being applied in Nov and them reissuing a new bill, so you may find that you’re due to pay in Feb March but it’s to spread the instalments out a bit more.
Also if it helps you can ask to pay over 12 mths instead of 10. A lot of people used to ask for this. It’s the same amount just split differently.
Best advice is to call them and get it sorted sooner rather than them sending letters.
Good luck with it all.

Well, the principle is still the same - I had two small children when I missed the payment, thinking it would be sorted by the next month - which it wasn't.

They didn't benefit from me then having to pay the entire year in one go, the constant stress, hiding when there was a knock on the door in case it was bailiffs (one day it was) - the phenomenal cost of the additional fees, not having money for school lunches, all the other bills bouncing, stealing toilet roll from work, having to take them out of clubs...

But I didn't think the OP would appreciate the true shitness of what happens when you think you can risk missing 'just one payment' of council tax.

Oh, and the LA CT team didn't give a single fuck about it. It all had to be paid, no arrangements, no extra time, no help. Just pay it.

Council tax are hounds if you miss a payment. You can miss 2 payments and then they ask for the lot in one go. Not sure if that its he same over every council.

if you can not pay your council tax, talk to them, but you would be better of missing or lowering amounts on other bills to pay the council tax. They will take you to court quickly.

and you will gets fees added to the final bill.

Council tax is not a bill I would ever default again.

Call them tomorrow morning and see what can be arranged. It's a biggie to default on - they race to court if you don't pay / don't get in touch, so after rent/mortgage it's the next bill to pay.

Then, tomorrow afternoon, put in an online claim for UC. It will be so worth it, and for the faff, it will give you additional income which you need.

I was once told to pay online. Pay £1 and the system registers you as having paid for that month, and it doesn't go down as a missed payment.

This wad about 2004 though so I don't know if that still works.

It doesn't register your whole bill as paid but you don't get a mark for non payment, as you expect paid something.

Please put in a CMS claim too, unless the children's dad is having them half the week every week.

The point is that council tax must be paid before anything else. OP won't be able to be there for her children if they put her in jail for non-payment. Which does happen, sadly.

Whatever you do, just make sure you contact them! If I was struggling there are two bills I'd make priority, my mortgage and the council tax. They don't mess around when it comes to going to court if you ignore letters from them.

Actually this is the best advice, you’d be better defaulting on a mortgage than council tax.
Unless you’ve been there you won’t understand how ruthless council tax enforcement is

OP if you have any credit in your gas/elec account (eg not a prepayment meter) contact them and ask them to pay it into your account. You can then use this towards the council tax