Liability orders

In short

• A liability order lets your council take money from your wages or benefits, or send enforcement agents, without going back to court.
• The hearing does not look at whether you can afford to pay. You do not have to attend, and you cannot be arrested for not going.
• An arrangement you keep to usually stops enforcement, even after the order is made.
• Prison is possible only in England, and only in rare cases. Wales abolished it in 2019.

A liability order is an order of the magistrates’ court confirming that you owe council tax and that your council can use its enforcement powers to recover it. It applies in England and Wales. In Scotland, councils use a summary warrant instead: see summary warrants.

A liability order is not a County Court Judgment (CCJ), and it does not go on your credit file. See does council tax debt affect your credit score.

Councils apply for liability orders in bulk. A single hearing can deal with hundreds of accounts in a few minutes, and most people named on the list never attend.

Before the hearing: the summons

Your council cannot apply for a liability order until it has sent you the right notices and given you the right amount of time. See council tax arrears for the timetable, which is different in England and Wales.

When it applies, the court issues a summons. It tells you the date, time and place of the hearing and the amount the council is asking for, including costs.

• The summons must be served on you at least 14 days before the hearing.
• It can be handed to you, left at your home or last known address, or posted.
• You do not have to go to the hearing. The case will go ahead without you.
• You cannot be arrested for not going.

Many councils will agree an arrangement after a summons and before the hearing. They usually still get the liability order, but agree not to enforce it while you keep to the arrangement.

What the hearing decides

Very little. The court is not deciding whether you can afford to pay, and it will not hear arguments about hardship. It is only deciding whether:

• the council tax was properly demanded, with a valid bill and the right notices
• the amount is still unpaid
• the council has followed the correct procedure and waited the right length of time

The defences that can work

There are only a few genuine defences to a liability order:

• The council tax was not properly demanded. For example, no valid bill or notice was sent to your correct address, or the council did not wait long enough between stages.
• It has already been paid.
• It is too old. A council must apply for a liability order within six years of the council tax becoming due.
• You are not the liable person. See who has to pay.
• It is covered by bankruptcy or a debt relief order.
• You are in a Breathing Space. A council should not take court action while you are protected by one.

If you have appealed to the Valuation Tribunal about your liability, a discount or an exemption, tell the court and the council. The court may put the hearing off until the appeal is decided.

If none of these applies, going to the hearing rarely changes the outcome. Your time is usually better spent contacting the council to agree an arrangement.

Costs

The liability order includes the council tax owed plus costs.

The court fee the council pays is just 50p per application, so almost all of the costs are the council’s own administration. In 2015 the High Court held, in R (Nicolson) v Tottenham Magistrates’ Court, that magistrates must be satisfied the costs were reasonably incurred in getting the order, and must not simply approve whatever figure a council asks for. If your council’s costs look high, you can ask it to explain how they were calculated, and raise them at the hearing.

After the order: the council can ask about your finances

Once it has a liability order, your council can require you to give it information about your finances, such as who your employer is and what income you receive. You must reply within 14 days. Failing to reply without a good reason, or giving false information, is a criminal offence.

Answer honestly. The council uses the information to decide which enforcement method to use, and it is also a chance to put forward a realistic payment offer.

What the order allows your council to do

Once a liability order is made, your council can use any of the following. It does not need to go back to court to choose between them, and it can switch from one to another.

• Attachment of earnings

  A set percentage taken from your wages each payday.

  No enforcement fees

• Deductions from benefits

  A fixed amount taken from Universal Credit or other benefits.

  No enforcement fees

• Enforcement agents

  Bailiffs collect the debt, and their fees are added to it.

  Fees added

• Charging order

  The debt is secured on your home, if you own it and owe £1,000 or more.

  Secured on your home

• Bankruptcy

  Rare, and only where you owe £5,000 or more.

  Serious and expensive

• Committal to prison

  England only, after enforcement agents have failed, and only in rare cases.

  England only

1. Attachment of earnings

Your council sends your employer an attachment of earnings order. Your employer must take a set percentage of your net pay each payday and send it to the council. Your employer can also take £1 for each deduction to cover its costs.

The percentages in England are set by law, and have not changed since 2007:

Two things make these deductions harsher than people expect:

• Above £2,020 a month net, half of every extra pound is taken. Someone with £2,500 a month take-home pay would lose £343.40 plus £240, a total of £583.40 a month.
• Two orders can run at the same time, for example for two different years of arrears. The deductions can then be very severe.

Wales has used its own table since April 2022, with higher pay thresholds, so deductions there are generally lower for the same pay.

If an attachment leaves you unable to pay your rent or buy food, contact your council straight away. It can agree to replace the order with a lower voluntary arrangement.

2. Deductions from benefits

Your council can ask the Department for Work and Pensions to take a fixed amount from your benefits and pay it to the council.

• Universal Credit: 5% of your standard allowance. From April 2026 that is about £17 to £33 a month, depending on your age and whether you are single or in a couple.
• Means-tested legacy benefits, such as income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support and Pension Credit: a similar fixed weekly amount.
• Contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance: up to 40% of the benefit.

Only one council tax deduction can be in place at a time. There is also an overall limit on how much can be taken from Universal Credit for all debts together, so council tax may have to wait if other deductions are already being made.

For many people on low incomes, a benefit deduction is the cheapest and most predictable way to clear council tax arrears. If you are on benefits and the council is threatening enforcement agents, it can be worth asking for a deduction instead.

3. Enforcement agents

Your council can pass the debt to enforcement agents, also called bailiffs. This is the option that adds the most cost, because enforcement fees are added to your debt from the moment the case is passed to them, with more if they visit.

Enforcement agents must give you written notice before they can visit to take control of goods. They cannot force their way into your home to collect council tax. See our guides to bailiff fees, bailiff rights and powers and what bailiffs can take.

If this is the option your council has chosen, contact the enforcement agents and the council straight away with a realistic offer.

4. A charging order

If you owe at least £1,000 under one or more liability orders, your council can apply to the county court for a charging order on the home the council tax is owed on, if you own it.

A charging order secures the debt against the property, a bit like a second mortgage. It does not usually force a sale. The debt is repaid when the home is sold or remortgaged. A council can, in rare cases, ask the court for an order for sale, but courts treat that very seriously and it is unusual for council tax alone.

5. Bankruptcy

If you owe £5,000 or more, your council can apply to make you bankrupt. It is rare, very expensive for the person made bankrupt, and heavily criticised as disproportionate, but it does still happen, usually to people who own their home. If you get a statutory demand or bankruptcy petition from your council, get advice immediately. Do not ignore it.

6. Committal to prison: England only

In England, if enforcement agents have tried and failed to recover the debt because there are not enough goods, your council can ask the magistrates’ court to consider sending you to prison.

Before it can do so:

• the court must hold a means inquiry, with you present
• it must be satisfied, beyond reasonable doubt, that your failure to pay is due to wilful refusal or culpable neglect
• it must consider alternatives, and can instead postpone a prison sentence on condition that you pay a set amount

The maximum sentence is three months. You are entitled to legal representation, and legal aid may be available.

Committal has been abolished in Wales since April 2019, and does not exist in Scotland.

What a liability order does not do

• It does not give anyone the right to force entry to your home to collect council tax.
• It does not stop your council agreeing an arrangement. Councils regularly agree payment plans after a liability order, and a plan you keep to normally prevents enforcement.
• It does not fix the amount forever. If your band is reduced, or a discount or exemption is backdated, the amount you owe is reduced too.
• It is not recorded on your credit file in the way a county court judgment is.
• It does not expire. There is no time limit on enforcing a liability order once it has been made, although the six-year limit applies to getting one. Very long delays can still be challenged: the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found councils at fault for enforcing orders many years later without good reason.

What to do after a liability order

1. Ask your council for a breakdown of the amount, including costs and the periods covered. Check every period against where you actually lived.
2. Check for help you have not claimed. A backdated severe mental impairment disregard, a disabled band reduction or a single person discount can reduce the balance substantially.
3. Make a written offer, with a statement of your income and outgoings. Ask for the account to be held while the offer is considered, or recalled from enforcement agents if it has already gone to them.
4. If you cannot keep up a voluntary arrangement, ask for an attachment of earnings or a benefit deduction instead of enforcement agents. It costs you nothing in fees.
5. Answer any request for information within 14 days.

Challenging a liability order

If a liability order should not have been made, for example you never received the bill or summons, you were not liable, or the council tax had already been paid, you can ask the magistrates’ court to set it aside.

To succeed, you generally need to show:

• a genuine dispute about whether you owe the money, or a substantial error in the process, and
• that you acted promptly once you found out about the order.

The quickest route is usually to ask the council to agree to the order being set aside. Councils will sometimes do this where they accept a mistake was made, and a joint application is much simpler. Ask the council first, in writing.

Questions people ask

• Attachment of earnings for council tax: how much can they take, and can you stop it?
• Can council tax debt be written off?
• Can you go to prison for not paying council tax?
• Council tax and dementia: the severe mental impairment discount
• Council tax court summons: what happens and what to do
• Council tax discounts for carers
• Council tax on a granny annexe
• Council Tax Reduction: who qualifies and how to apply
• Council tax refunds and overpayments
• Council tax single person discount
• Council tax when you move house
• Do pensioners pay council tax?
• Do students pay council tax?
• Does council tax debt affect your credit score?
• Is there a time limit on council tax debt?
• What happens if you don't pay council tax?
• Which months don't you pay council tax?
• Why council tax arrears keep rising, and what it means if you are behind

Questions people often ask

Do I have to go to the liability order hearing?

No. The hearing goes ahead without you, and you cannot be arrested for not attending. Only go if you have a genuine defence.

Will a liability order show on my credit file?

No. Council tax liability orders are not recorded on your credit file in the way a county court judgment is.

Can my council take money from my wages without my agreement?

Yes, once it has a liability order. It does not need to go back to court, and it does not need your employer’s agreement. Your employer must follow the order.

How long can the council chase me once it has a liability order?

There is no time limit on enforcing a liability order. But a council that has done nothing for many years may be open to a complaint to the Ombudsman.

Can I go to prison for not paying council tax?

In England, only in rare cases, after enforcement agents have failed, and only if a court finds you wilfully refused or culpably neglected to pay. Not in Wales or Scotland.