Instalments and Arrears

Council tax and council servicesCouncil Tax is set by Allerdale Borough Council and annual bills are sent in March each year. It must be paid monthly (instalments due in April must be paid within April, May within May, etc) to avoid receiving a reminder or a summons. Block payments can be made, but must be paid in advance.

The Council is duty bound to collect Council Tax in line with current regulations. If a payment is missed you will receive a reminder and will have a further seven days to pay before the whole balance becomes due. If it is not paid you will receive a summons which will cost you £60.00.

If payment of the first reminder is made you can continue to pay monthly. However, the law only allows a maximum of two reminders in any financial year. If after making payment for a second reminder your payment is late again, you will receive a Final Notice - which has to be paid in full within 14 days to avoid a summons being issued.

A summons currently costs £60.00 to issue. The summons details how much you owe and tells you when the hearing is to be held. At the hearing we will ask the Magistrates to grant a Liability Order. Once this has been granted we are able to implement recovery action to clear the debt.

Recovery action can take the form of:

  • An agreed payment arrangement with you (see request for payment arrangement forms below)
  • Attachment of earnings,
  • Deductions from Income Support, Jobseekers Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance
  • Instruct bailiffs

You can go to prison for up to 90 days for not paying your Council Tax!

Anyone having difficulty paying their Council Tax should always contact Allerdale Borough Council as soon as possible (see contacts below). We are always available to offer help and advice.

Don't wait until it's too late!

Contacts:

1. How to pay an instalment or advice if you are unable to pay an instalment: 01900 702530

2. If you have had a summons and want to discuss payment options: 01900 702670

3. Or contact us by e-mail on revenues@allerdale.gov.uk 


Electronic forms

Electronic forms can be completed and submitted online, with no paper involved, which is not only our preferred method; it's kinder to the environment as well.

Downloadable Documents

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File nameSizeApproximate Download time
Adobe PDF format - download the viewerRequest for Council Tax payment arrangement in PDF format87 Kb12 secs @ 56k, 0 secs @ 2mb
Microsoft Word formatRequest for Council Tax payment arrangement in Word format98 Kb14 secs @ 56k, 0 secs @ 2mb

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Contact us

 01900 702702
 01900 702507

Allerdale Borough Council
Allerdale House, Workington, Cumbria,
CA14 3YJ