Choose how you pay your bill
Contact the Local Taxation Team immediately if you are struggling to pay your Council Tax.
See 'difficulties in making payments' for further independent support and advice.
You can pay your Council Tax by instalments, or all at once:
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Monthly instalments: Apply to pay your Council Tax by 12 instalments. We issue bills with 10 instalments, this is unless you have opted to pay over 12 instalments. If you would like to change to 12 instalments, please complete the form, or email the Local Taxation Team on the details below. Please enter '12 instalments' as the subject. Instalments are due on the first day of each month. If you pay by Direct Debit, you can choose to pay on the 1st or 15th day of the month. If you move house partway through the year, or need a new bill, the number of instalments may be less than 10/12.
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Weekly payments: There are a maximum of 43 instalments from April. You can pay weekly instalments by any of the methods shown below, this includes Direct Debit. Please contact us if you wish to pay by weekly instalments when you receive your bill.
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Annually: If you pay annually, the payment is due on 1 April, or first day of the month, this is following the issue of the bill if issued later. Direct Debit payers have the option of paying on the 1st or 15th day of the month.
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Half yearly: Payments are usually due on 1 April and 1 September. There is an option of the 15th day of the month for Direct Debit payers.
You will need your Council Tax reference number before you can pay. You can pay in one of the following ways:
Pay online
To pay online you will need your:
- Council Tax reference number (8 digits long)
- Debit card (sorry, we do not accept credit cards)
Pay by direct debit or standing order
See 'setting up a Direct Debit or Standing Order payment'.
Pay by telephone
A telephone payment service is available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Please telephone 0300 456 2729 and have your debit card and Council Tax bill ready. You will need to refer to the front of the bill for:
- your Council Tax reference number and
- the amount to pay.
If your Council Tax reference number ends with an X, please use the * button on your telephone pad. We will tell you the authorisation number at the end of the call. You may want to make a note of this.
Pay using the internet, or by telephone banking
If you have this facility with your bank, you will need our bank details, which are:
Sort Code 01-04-66; Account Number 37973541.
Use the Reference Number shown top left on the front of your Council Tax bill.
Pay at the Post Office or PayPoint Store
You can make payments by cash or debit card. All payment documents have a barcode on them. This is all you need to make a payment at the Post Office or PayPoint store.
Locate your nearest Post Office.
Locate your nearest PayPoint store.
Please ensure you use your most recent bill or reminder as the barcodes have recently changed. Council Tax Payment Cards are no longer valid and, if you use this, your payment may not reach the Council. If you have one of these, please dispose of the card by cutting it up.
What happens if I do not pay?
See 'difficulties in making payments'. We expect you to organise your finances so that you pay instalments by the due dates. We will not normally make alternative arrangements.
See 'Council Tax recovery and enforcement'. If you do not pay an instalment within 14 days of the due date, we will issue a reminder notice. We will only issue two such notices in any one financial year. If you miss an instalment for a third time, you will receive a 'final notice' for the full remaining amount due for the year. Further non-payment will result in the issue of a Summons, with extra costs of at least £63.