If you missed or were late paying a Council Tax instalment you will have been sent a reminder notice giving you seven days to bring your Council Tax payments up to date. If you did not pay within this time, or if after a second reminder / final notice you have fallen behind with your payments again, you will now have to pay the full outstanding balance of your Council Tax bill. The Council is asking the court to issue a Liability Order so that it can recover the outstanding Council Tax from you.

You should pay the amount of Council Tax that you owe in full, including costs as shown on the summons. If you do this before the date of the court hearing your case will not be heard and the council will not apply for a Liability Order. 

• More information about paying your Council Tax

If you are unable to make payment in full, there is a payment arrangement included on the summons . We will still apply for a Liability Order, but if you keep to this arrangement, no further action will be taken

If you wish to make an alternative payment arrangement you can set up a Special Arrangement online now or telephone 01908 253794. Our opening hours are 9:00am until 5:00pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday (excluding Bank Holidays) 

You can also make a repayment offer using our online Income & Expenditure form (this form is hosted on the Apply4Online portal)

A Liability Order is a demand for you to pay the full amount you owe, plus costs. It gives the council greater powers to collect the money you owe using a range of actions which include:

• asking your employer to take regular deductions from your salary 
• taking money directly from your Universal Credit, Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance 
• asking Enforcement Agents to visit your home and either collect the amount you owe, or if this is not possible, remove items belonging to you and sell them 
• putting a charging order on your property, which means we could force its sale to pay your Council Tax arrears, or the arrears will be paid out of the amount you get for any future sale 
• applying to make you bankrupt 
• applying to the Magistrates Court for your committal to prison

You do not need to attend the court hearing unless you have a legal defence against the issue of a liability order. The magistrates will hear the case whether you attend or not.

The magistrates can only listen to a valid defence against the issue of a liability order. Some common defences are: 

• the property is not entered in the appropriate valuation list 
• the Council Tax has not been properly set 
• the Council Tax has not been billed in accordance with the legislation 
• the amount demanded has been paid in full (including summons costs) 
• more than six years have passed since the balance became due
• bankruptcy proceedings have been started
• you are not the person who is liable to pay the Council Tax that you have been summonsed for.

It is not a valid defence against the issue of a liability order, and you do not need to attend court if: 

• you can’t afford to pay the amount owed in full 
• you would like time to pay or have difficulty paying 
• you want to make a payment arrangement
• you have applied for Council Tax Support and have not heard anything
• your Council Tax Support is incorrect
• you are appealing against a decision for Council Tax Support entitlement
• you have appealed to the council or the Valuation Office Agency about the amount of your Council Tax or your property band.

If you have a valid defence and wish to attend the court hearing you MUST contact the Recovery Department first to arrange an appointment to appear.

Email recovery@milton-keynes.gov.uk or telephone the Council on 01908 254060. Our opening hours are 9am-5pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and then 10am-5pm on Wednesday

The council has to pay the Magistrates Court 50 pence for each summons that is issued and this cost is added onto the amount shown on your summons. We also include additional costs of £52 when a Summons is issued and request the magistrates award further costs of £30 if a Liability Order is granted. These costs are to reflect the council’s costs incurred in recovering a debt up to obtaining a liability order. 

As the level of administration required by the council in collecting each debt varies on a case by case basis it would be too costly to calculate an itemised breakdown of the costs incurred for each case, instead we take the overall cost of administering the recovery of the debt to liability order stage and apply an equal portion of these costs to each case.

We have calculated the level of costs by identifying the cost of staff time within Revenues and Benefits Service administering an account to liability order stage, together with other costs such as printing, postage and IT.

The costs are calculated based on an estimate of the total number of summons and liability orders that will be issued in a year rather than by the number of cases to be heard at each court hearing as this would result in a higher level of costs being applied for at hearings with a lower number of cases.

A breakdown of the calculation can be requested by emailing recovery@milton-keynes.gov.uk  

The Council can issue an Attachment of Earnings Order without having to go back to Court. The Liability Order allows the Council to do this. The amount of the deductions are not set by the Council but by the Government that provides a table of percentage deductions from your net income. Council Tax Deduction Table.

Attachment of Earning Guidance Notes

The Council can apply for deductions to be made from someone’s income support, jobseekers allowance, pension credit and universal credit.

Enforcement Agents are employed to distrain upon and remove goods for sale where appropriate. If the Council instructs the Enforcement Agent, it will cost you significant extra charges, contacting them early is important to minimise these charges.

ENFORCEMENT AGENTS CHARGES

• Compliance Stage - £75
  
  Fee is incurred by the debtor when the Council instructs the Enforcement Agents to collect your outstanding debt.
• Enforcement Stage - £235
  
  Fee is incurred by the debtor upon the first visit by the Enforcement Agent.
• Sale/Disposal Stage - £110
  
  Fee is incurred by the debtor upon a further visit with the intention to remove goods for sale.

Please note an additional fee of 7.5% will be charged on any balance over £1,500.

Marston contact details:

Online payments

To pay online, please go to https://payments.marstonholdings.co.uk

Automated payment line

To pay through our 24-hour automated payment line, phone 0333 320 1100.

Contact us by phone

To speak to one of our team to make a payment, or to discuss your circumstances, phone 0333 320 1822. Our opening hours are 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm on Saturdays.

Contact us by email

If you haven't found the answer you are looking for on the Marston Holdings website, please email us at generalenquiries@marstonholdings.co.uk.

Contact us by post

It is always quicker and easier to contact us by phone or email.  If you do need to send us anything in the post, please send it to:

Marston

PO Box 12019

Epping

CM16 9EB

To pay by post, send a postal order, cheque or banker’s draft, made payable to ‘Marston’ to the address above. Make sure that you write your name and our reference number on anything you send us and if sending us a payment, on the back of the postal order, cheque or banker’s draft so we know what the payment is for.

Bristow and Sutor contact details:

Online payments

To pay online, please go to www.bristowsutor.co.uk/pay

Automated payment line

To pay through our 24-hour automated payment line, phone 0330 390 2010.

Via the website

https://www.bristowsutor.co.uk/

Contact us by phone

To speak to one of our team to make a payment, or to discuss your circumstances, phone 0330 390 2010. Our opening hours are 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday, 8am to 1pm on Saturday to Sunday.

Contact us by post

It is always quicker and easier to contact us by phone or email.  If you do need to send us anything in the post, please send it to:

Bristow & Sutor

Bartleet Road

Redditch

Worcestershire

B98 0FL

To pay by post, send a postal order, cheque or banker’s draft, made payable to ‘Bristow & Sutor’ to the address above. Make sure that you write your name and our reference number on anything you send us and if sending us a payment, on the back of the postal order, cheque or banker’s draft so we know what the payment is for.

The Council wishes to avoid committal wherever possible, but has a strict policy of taking such proceedings where no other form of recovery is appropriate. In the first instance the Council will apply for a summons for you to attend Court. This action will lead to substantial costs being added to your debt.

You must attend this hearing. If you do not attend, a warrant will be issued for your arrest.

At the hearing, the Council will apply for you to be committed to prison for non-payment.

You will undergo an enquiry as to your means. If the Magistrates find you guilty of either Culpable Neglect (you did not pay and it is deemed to be your fault) or Wilful Refusal (you intentionally chose not to pay) they can choose to commit you to prison or to suspend committal on an order for payments. The maximum sentence for each Liability Order is 3 months imprisonment. It is strongly recommended that you take legal advice in advance of the hearing.

If a Liability Order has been granted and the total indebtedness to the Council is over £1,500 the Council can petition for your bankruptcy.

Should you be made bankrupt your personal finances will be handed over to a Trustee who will administer your estate.

Your assets can include any interest in any home you own, personal pension, endowments and savings plans.

It will inhibit your ability to obtain credit. The costs of obtaining a Bankruptcy Order and the subsequent actions of a Trustee can amount to several thousands of pounds.

These costs would be deducted from the proceeds of your liquidated assets.

A Bankruptcy Order can still be made even if you refuse to acknowledge the proceedings. You should therefore ensure that you do acknowledge any such proceedings and contact the Council immediately.

Wilkin Chapman Solicitors contact details:

All enquiries should be directed through Wilkin Chapman’s website: https://www.wilkinchapman.co.uk/

If a Liability Order has been granted and the total indebtedness to the Council has over £1,000 outstanding under Liability Order(s) and the Council Tax payer has a legal interest in the property, we may apply to the County Court for a charging order on the property.

The effect of a charging order is that if the property or other legal interest is sold, the amount of the charging order is paid out of the proceeds.

Wilkin Chapman Solicitors contact details:

All enquiries should be directed through Wilkin Chapman’s website: https://www.wilkinchapman.co.uk/