I have received a Council Tax Summons

You will have received a Council Tax Summons if you have not paid your Council Tax by the due date shown on your Council Tax bill.

Before receiving a Council Tax Summons, you will have already received a Council Tax reminder, informing you to bring your account up to date.

A Summons will be sent to you if your account is still overdue. The Summons will tell you that further action will be taken to collect the outstanding amount.

Summons costs of £48.00 will be added to the amount you owe.

If you have paid the outstanding amount in full including the costs since the date of issue shown on the Summons you need take no further action.

If you have not paid, but are able to pay or want to discuss payment options, contact us as soon as possible before the Liability Order hearing date. Your options might include:

1. Pay your outstanding balance in any of the following ways:

By debit card over the phone or Internet, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 0333 2000 324 or at www.doncaster.gov.uk, simply look for, Pay for it, then select Council Tax and follow the instructions.

If you think you have already paid the amount by debit card, cheque, by Direct Debit or Standing Order, please check that the amount has been taken out of your bank account. If your payment has been sent please contact us on 01302 734454 with the details of how and when you made your payment and the account information. If you have paid by cash you will need to provide a receipt as proof of payment.
You can pay by cash or Debit card at any Post Office at no additional cost using the bar code on the correspondence. The bar code on any correspondence sent to you allows you to pay cash at any outlet where you see the Paypoint sign.

To find your nearest Paypoint locations visit the Paypoint website. There is no cost for using this service.

Please note, a payment shows on your Council Tax account when the Council receives it. You should take this into account especially if you have paid by cheque, by Standing Order, at the Post Office or via Paypoint.

2. Make an arrangement with us to pay the amount owed

You may be able to make a payment arrangement including Summons and Liability Order costs at a frequency that suits your needs and over a longer period of time. 

City of Doncaster Council will still apply for a Liability Order. This allows the Council to take further action in the future if payments are not made or you default on any agreement to pay your Council Tax including the costs.

3. You may be able to set up a direct debit and have the Summons and the costs cancelled.

This does depend on how much you owe, your previous payment history and the month in which the Summons has been issued. Direct Debit is the most convenient way to pay your Council Tax and you can choose to pay over 10 or 12 months on the 1st, 7th, 15th or 25th. You can arrange to do this over the telephone.

You still need to pay your current instalments while your claim is being considered. This is because your claim may not be successful.

If you would like to check the progress of your claim please contact the Benefits office in the first instance on 01302 735336.

No. You can contact the Council Tax team first on 01302 734454. A member of staff will discuss your options with you, or rectify any problems if you feel your Council Tax is wrong

You should attend Court only if you wish to speak to a Magistrate and have a valid defence against a Liability Order. For further information about this please see the Letter from the Court that was included with your Summons.

Contact us on 01302 734454 at the earliest opportunity to discuss your options. You may be able to make a payment arrangement including Summons and Liability Order costs at a frequency that suits your needs and over a longer period of time. However you will need to complete the Income and Expenditure form below to make an arrangement.  

City of Doncaster Council will still apply for a Liability Order. This allows the Council to take further action in the future if payments are not made or you default on any agreement to pay your Council Tax including the costs.

If specific payment terms can`t be agreed then recovery action will continue. This means that the following options may be used to clear your debts once a Liability Order has been obtained:

• Automatic deduction from your earnings Automatic deductions from certain types of benefits
• A visit by an enforcement Agent who can seize certain goods that you own and sell them at auction. Please note substantial costs will be incurred for any Enforcement Agent visit.
• An application for bankruptcy or liquidation
• An application for your committal to prison if you refuse to pay or make no attempts to resolve the issue with us.

You must complete an Income and Expenditure Form when this is received. This will be sent to you once the Liability Order has been obtained. Your income and expenditure is needed to help the Council Tax staff to make a payment arrangement that takes into account your ability to pay.

It is a criminal offence not to provide this information at that point. You can provide these details in advance of the court date if you wish, by going to www.doncaster.gov.uk, simply go to Council Tax, Are you having difficulty paying? You can then print off a copy of this form at any time. Council Tax staff will always work with you to find the best solution to pay what you owe.

It is in your best interests to keep in contact and adhere to any arrangement you have been given. You should be aware that once a Summons and Liability Order have been obtained, if it then becomes necessary to pass your account to an Enforcement Agent for further action, the following costs would be added to your account. It is therefore in your interests to make contact as early as possible:

a) Notice of Enforcement (instruction to take action) £75.00 per Liability Order

b) First visit by an Enforcement Agent – fixed fee of £235.00 plus 7.5% of any balance owed over £1,500.00

c) Sale and removal of goods – fixed fee of £110.00 plus 7.5% of any balance owed over £1,500.00 plus reasonable storage and auctioneers fees. 

At the Liability Order hearing, we will ask the Court to award an order for the amount due, including all costs. Further costs of £26.00 will be incurred at the Liability Order hearing and added to your account.

City of Doncaster Council is committed to helping Taxpayers in genuine financial difficulty but will pursue those who refuse to pay. Further action can include deducting amounts from your earnings or a visit from an Enforcement Agent.

Don’t let this happen to you, contact the Council Tax team now on 01302 734454.

If you are having problems paying your council bills, you should let us know as soon as possible.

We are sympathetic to circumstances of genuine hardship and we will work with you to put arrangements in place that will take your financial circumstances into account. Please remember that Council Tax is a priority debt and should be paid before other non-priority debts.

Make an offer of payment now. Tell us how much you earn and what your household commitments are and we may be able to agree payment terms, which take into account your financial circumstances. Please note, certain arrangements will be subject to the addition of costs but this will be avoided where possible. Council Tax staff are trained to deal with customers with financial difficulty and will treat you with courtesy and respect.

As soon as you realise you are struggling to pay, contact us on 01302 734454 and we'll see what we can do. 

Have you also checked:

• Ways to reduce my Council Tax bill
• Ways to pay

If you are on a low income, or receiving benefits, you may qualify for additional support through the Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

• Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme

If your need further help or advice

You can get free help or advice on dealing with Enforcement Agents from:

• National Debtline: https://www.nationaldebtline.org
• the Money Advice Service: https://www.moneyadvicetrust.org
• Citizens Advice: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk
• StepChange Debt Charity: https://www.stepchange.org

A Liability Order is granted to City of Doncaster Council by a Magistrates Court after a Summons has been sent to you for non-payment of your Council Tax.

It gives City of Doncaster Council the legal power to take further action to recover unpaid Council Tax.

This might include taking deductions from your earnings or benefits, use of an Enforcement Agent, Bankruptcy proceedings, obtaining a charging order, and order of sale on your property, or committal to prison.

Please look at the following list of defences, and if you think any one of these apply in your case, you can attend court on the date given on the Summons and ask to speak to the Magistrate. For further information about this please see the Letter from the Court that was included with your Summons.

You should always contact the Council Tax Office on 01302 734454 prior to the court date to discuss your case – for example, if your defence is that you have paid your Council Tax, staff may be able to trace any missing payments or advise you further without any need to attend court.

• The property does not appear on the Valuation List as a dwelling for which Council Tax can be charged for the period in question
• The Council Tax has not been properly set by the Council
• The Council Tax has not been demanded properly please see below:
• It has not been demanded properly if you have not been given 14 days` notice on your bill of any new instalments.
• You have not been sent a reminder giving you 7 days to bring your account up to date
• You have not been sent a Summons after the full balance became payable – Please note City of Doncaster Council must show that a bill has been sent by post, not that a taxpayer has received it.
• The amount outstanding has been paid – if you think the amount has been paid please contact the Council Tax Office in the first instance with the details of when and where you made your payment, how the payment was made with details of your bank account where necessary. A receipt must support any cash payments.
• This is the first time that you have been summoned to court and more than six years have passed since your first payment became due.
• The Council did not serve you with a bill for payment as soon as they were able to in accordance with Council Tax legislation.
• The sum that you owe is for a Penalty which is the subject of appeal or arbitration
• Bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings have commenced.

Yes, we will consider making an arrangement with you, but the Liability Order and costs may still be obtained from the Court.

There is no need to attend court, you can contact us on 01302 734454. You may be able to make a payment arrangement including Summons and Liability Order costs at a frequency that suits your needs and over a longer period of time.

If further action is necessary Council Tax staff will always work with you to find the best solution to pay what you owe. If specific payment terms cannot be agreed then recovery action will continue. This means that the following options may be used to clear your debts once the Liability Order has been obtained:

• Automatic deduction from your earnings
• Automatic deductions from certain types of benefits
• A visit by an enforcement Agent who can seize certain goods that you own and sell them at auction. Please note substantial costs will be incurred for any Enforcement Agent visit.
• An application for bankruptcy or liquidation
• An application for your committal to prison if you refuse to pay or make no attempts to resolve the issue with a member of staff.

You must complete an Income and Expenditure Form. This will be sent to you once the Liability Order has been obtained. It is a criminal offence not to provide this information at that point. You can provide these details in advance of the court date if you wish, by going to www.doncaster.gov.uk, simply go to Council Tax, Are you having difficulty paying. You can then print off a copy of this form at any time.

Please be aware that once a Summons and Liability Order have been obtained, if it then becomes necessary to pass your account to an Enforcement Agent for further action, the following costs would be added to your account. It is therefore in your interests to make contact as early as possible.

a) Notice of Enforcement (instruction to take action) £75.00 per Liability Order

b) First visit by an Enforcement Agent – fixed fee of £235.00 plus 7.5% of any balance owed over £1,500.00

c) Sale and removal of goods – fixed fee of £110.00 plus 7.5% of any balance owed over £1,500.00 plus reasonable storage and auctioneer fees.