About us

In short

• We help with council tax arrears, liability orders, bailiffs and sheriff officers, in England, Wales and Scotland.
• It costs nothing to use our service, and there is no obligation.
• Council Tax Helpline is run by Chris Richards, who founded Council Tax Advisors in 2012 after his own experience of bailiffs.
• We are not part of your council, and we are not a debt collector.
• Free, independent debt advice is also available from organisations such as MoneyHelper and Citizens Advice.

Council tax debt moves faster than almost any other household bill. Miss a payment and, within a few weeks, the whole year’s bill can be due, followed by a court summons, costs, and then bailiffs or deductions from your wages. Most people who contact us are frightened of the letters, and many have stopped opening them.

We exist to make that simpler. We look at where you are, tell you plainly what it means, and help you put something in place that you can actually keep to.

Our story

Council Tax Helpline is run by Chris Richards, who founded Council Tax Advisors in 2012.

He started it because of what happened to him. After a period of ill health he fell behind with his council tax, and the bailiffs who came to his home acted outside the law. One of them later had his certificate revoked. It showed him how little most people know about what bailiffs can and cannot do, and how much difference it makes when someone who does know is on your side.

Through Council Tax Advisors, he went on to help people deal with council tax arrears and bailiffs.

Why a new service

A lot has changed since 2012:

• Bailiff fees went up in May 2026, and the notice you must be given before a visit doubled to 14 clear days.
• Bailiff firms are now overseen by the independent Enforcement Conduct Board, and you can complain to it directly.
• The way councils collect council tax is changing. Wales changed its rules in April 2026, and England’s reforms are due from April 2027.
• Most people now look for help on their phone, so a service has to work properly on a small screen.

Rather than patch up an old website, Chris started again. Council Tax Helpline keeps the same focus on council tax and bailiffs, but every guide has been rewritten from scratch and checked against the law as it stands today, the site is built to be easy to use on a phone, and the service now works with Complete 2 Financial Solutions Ltd, whose advisers call people back and deal with their council.

What we do

• Explain where you stand. What each letter means, what can happen next, and how much time you have.
• Check the bill is right. Whether you are the person who should be paying, whether the band is right, and whether you are missing a discount, exemption or reduction that could reduce what you owe, sometimes going back years.
• Work out what you can afford. From your real income and outgoings, with a margin for a bad month.
• Deal with your council. Where you want us to, we put a special payment arrangement to your council, and ask for the account to be held, or taken back from the bailiffs.
• Check bailiff fees. And challenge any that have been charged wrongly. See bailiff fees explained.
• Look at your other debts too. Where council tax is one of several debts, a debt management plan that includes your council tax arrears may help, or one of the formal options.

Who we are

Council Tax Helpline (counciltaxhelpline.co.uk) is a trading style of Simply Quote Comparison Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales, company number 15008284. Registered office: Sentinel House, Ancells Business Park, Harvest Crescent, Fleet, Hampshire, GU51 2UZ.

The service is provided on Simply Quote Comparison Ltd’s behalf by Complete 2 Financial Solutions Ltd, company number 15167030. When you get in touch, it is their advisers who call you back, look at your situation, and deal with your council where you ask them to.

Because our service relates to council tax and local authority debt rather than regulated consumer credit, it falls outside the scope of Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulation.

What it costs

Nothing. There is no charge for using our service, no upfront fee, and no obligation to go ahead with anything.

If a solution turns out to be right for you that does involve a cost, such as some debt management plans or a formal insolvency option, you will be told what it costs, in plain English and in writing, before you agree to anything.

Free, independent debt advice

You do not have to use us. Free, independent debt advice is also available from:

• MoneyHelper, the government-backed money guidance service, which can put you in touch with a free debt adviser
• Citizens Advice
• StepChange Debt Charity
• National Debtline

We would rather you got help from someone than from no one.

What we do not do

• We do not contact your employer, your landlord or your family
• We do not agree anything on your behalf without your say-so
• We do not push people towards formal solutions they do not need
• We do not put an offer to your council that you have told us you cannot keep to

Who we are not

We are not part of your council, and we do not work for it. We are not a government body, a charity, or a debt collection agency. Enforcement agents and sheriff officers do not work for us either.

Where we help

• England and Wales, where council tax is recovered through liability orders, enforcement agents, and deductions from wages or benefits
• Scotland, where it is recovered through summary warrants and sheriff officers. See the Scotland section

Northern Ireland has domestic rates rather than council tax. We can still talk it through with you, but most of this site does not apply there.

Getting in touch

Call us free on 0800 494 7285, Monday to Thursday, 10am to 5pm, or answer a few questions online at any time and an adviser will call you back. Other ways to reach us are on the contact page.