Council Tax law is very specific about your responsibilities as a council tax payer.

Your bill shows the amount of council tax you are required to pay, if any, and the date(s) on which payments are due. The law says your account is overdue immediately if you fail to make a payment by the due date, which is normally the 1st of each month.

We would normally wait a few days after the due date before starting enforcement action.

• On the 1st occasion your payment is overdue, we will send you a reminder. You will then have 7 days to pay any overdue amounts.
• On the 2nd occasion your payment is overdue, we will send you a further reminder. Again, you will have 7 days to pay any overdue amounts.
• On the 3rd occasion your payment is overdue, we will send you a cancellation notice. At this point, the law says you cannot continue to pay by instalments, and the balance of your council tax becomes due in full.

The law also says you cannot continue to pay by instalments if you do not pay any reminder within 7 days.

As you can see you will lose the right to pay by instalments if you wait to receive a reminder before you pay. To avoid this happening, you must ensure your payments are received by the Council on or before the due dates shown on your bill. The best way to do this is by paying by monthly direct debit.

If any reminder or cancellation notice is not paid on time, we will start enforcement action through the Courts, by issuing a summons to you. This will result in you having to pay extra costs, as well as the balance of your council tax bill.


For further information please use the contact details below:

E-Mail council.tax@waveney.gov.uk
Telephone 01502 523435
Fax 01502 523310
Letter Waveney District Council (Local Tax), PO Box 96, Lowestoft, NR32 1HW

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