Do you ever get a reminder for Council Tax?

Conrad3000

Hi all.

In all the years I've been paying it, I've never had a reminder, whether through email or text.

Is this normal?

I tend to panic in case I miss the date it's supposed to be paid on, knowing how 'nasty' Councils can be in chasing it up.

Thanks

marcia_

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6682351/do-you-ever-get-a-reminder-for-council-tax

no but i have a direct debit set up so it always goes out same day every month.
They would soon contact you if you missed a payment

Ambyth

I did have a few reminders (before I set up a DD), but it was always by post - never text or email.

Jude57

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6682351/do-you-ever-get-a-reminder-for-council-tax

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6682351/do-you-ever-get-a-reminder-for-council-tax

I pay Council Tax and other household bills by Direct Debit and have done for many years. It gives me the certainty that my priority bills are paid on time and the Direct Debit guarantee gives me reassurance that if there is an issue, my Bank have to repay the money and sort the problem out after. I've never heard of Councils sending reminders by text or email. If a person liable for Council Tax has never claimed any reductions, it's likely that the Council won't know much about them beyond the fact that they're over 18 years old. It's unlikely they'd have an email address or mobile phone number for that person and as there's no central directory of such contact information, the Council would have no way to obtain it.

I worked in Council Tax recovery and then all notices had, by law, to be issued by post (not necessarily First Class) because, at some point, a Recovery Officer (me) was going to have to give evidence under oath that the appropriate bills and reminders had been issued, and to present proof of posting as evidence. For clarity, proof of posting involved confirming that Royal Mail had collected X number of reminders/summonses from the Council offices and the Officer was subject to penalties for perjury if they lied - but why would they?

And, on behalf of my former colleagues, there's nothing personal in Council Tax recovery. Every step and much of the wording in documentation is set out in legislation, giving Councils very little latitude to be 'nasty'!😁

oldernonethewiser

Never had a reminder. Gets paid by DD and just forget about it.

Ms_Chocaholic

Do you not pay by DD? My uncle never paid any bills via DD, he didn't trust them but most people do nowadays.

Conrad3000

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82127895#Comment_82127895

My thought process is similar to your uncle's.

I don't pay by DD unless I have to (like to my internet provider).

Btw, I get an email every month for my gas/electric, internet, and when the time comes, for my water bill.

I'm just puzzled why the Council doesn't do this... unless they're deliberately waiting for people to trip up and then go all guns blazing on them by demanding they pay for the entire year (because they accidentally forgot to pay on time a couple of times in that year).

Jude57

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82127903#Comment_82127903

Your utility providers are private companies, accountable only to their shareholders to whom they pay their massive profits. They also earn money by selling on your data to other companies. Councils have to achieve cost savings year on year and that's been the case for decades. You may think that sending a monthly text or email is free but there is a cost involved and staff time spent issuing those messages is only part of the story. And remember, it's public money that Councils would be spending. Every piece of correspondence a Council Tax team issues generates incoming phone calls, emails, letters and in-person visits by members of the public to the Council offices. Again, there's a cost involved in dealing with all that.

Council Tax legislation sets out the recovery process and Councils can't circumvent that process. Your bill, issued in March each year, gives you the right to pay by instalments. If you miss an instalment (not just pay it late but miss it altogether) you will be sent a reminder. Some Councils are quicker on the draw at this stage than others. If you don't bring your payments up to date and don't keep them up to date, you may, in accordance with the provisions of the legislation, lose the right to pay by instalments for that financial year and the full balance becomes due. This isn't a whim by a random Council Tax officer, it's the legislation they must follow. Failure at this stage to engage with the Council to arrange payment will result in a Summons being issued, incurring costs. If you still fail to pay in full or to engage with the Council to arrange payment that will result in further recovery action which may seem draconian but Councils have a fiduciary duty laid down in law to collect all monies due. Remember, this is public money they are collecting and it pays for the services we need as a society, from education for our children to street lighting to the Fire & Rescue service to libraries to social care for the most vulnerable in society and very much more.

I can only speak from my own decade-plus of experience in Council Tax recovery and I can assure you, at the initial reminder or final notice stages, no Council Tax officer is sitting waiting to shout 'gotcha!' when a payment isn't made. Not only are they not that malicious, they really don't have the time. In the Council I worked for, we had 68,000 properties to Bill and collect from and the Council Tax team consisted of 8 people, including myself and the team leader. We had a separate benefits team but mine dealt with everything else, registration for Council Tax, discounts, exemptions, liaison with the Valuation Office, maintenance of the Council Tax register, annual billing and regular billing due to changes of circumstances and, or course, debt recovery. I'm led to believe that teams are even smaller now. When the recovery process is much further along and specialist officers, of which I was one, get involved, I can again only speak from personal experience and while I did have 'frequent flyers' who deliberately didn't pay until imprisonment was looming, I generally didn't have the time or inclination to cherry pick who to pursue for non-payment. I was even-handed in that I would pursue anyone who didn't pay and who either didn't get in touch to discuss payment or, worse, repeatedly made offers of payment that they didn't adhere to. You may think that's 'all guns blazing' but it's actually just complying with the requirements of the legislation.

You choose not to pay your bills by Direct Debit and that is, of course, your decision. I've been paying my household bills by Direct Debit for almost 40 years and have never had a single problem. But surely part of being an adult and a householder is ensuring that you take the responsibility for paying your bills on time by whatever means you choose. In your own case, why not set a monthly calendar reminder on your phone or other computer so that you don't forget to pay each month? Then you needn't be worried about reminders for Council Tax or anything else.

kimwp

Direct debits solve this issue.

marcia_

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82127903#Comment_82127903

you get notifications from utilities and broadband because they process monthly bills. Council tax issues one bill for the whole amount at the beginning of the tax year, you decide to pay it by instalments hence no notification as no new bill is produced

BridgetTheCat

I don’t like direct debits either so I pay by standing order. They’re not very common any more but they are an automated payment like a DD but the payer has complete control. If you can pay by bank transfer then you can easily set it up to be a SO.