Liability Orders

Once a Summons has been issued, if you fail to pay the balance demanded in full by the date of the court hearing, we will apply to the Magistrates court for a Liability Order. Obtaining a Liability Order adds additional costs of £50.00 to your balance and gives MVDC powers to do one or more of the following:

A Council Tax Attachment of Earnings Order is a legal document sent by the council to your employer requiring them to deduct unpaid Council Tax directly from your wages. It is only issued after the magistrates’ court has granted a Liability Order against you for non-payment.

Your employer is legally obligated to make these deductions. The deduction amount is calculated using fixed percentages based on your net earnings (take-home pay after tax, National Insurance, and superannuation are removed).

  • Weekly pay: Percentages range from 3% to 17% depending on your pay band. If you earn more than £505 a week, 17% of the first £505 is taken, plus 50% of everything you earn over that amount.
  • Monthly pay: Percentages range from 3% to 17% depending on your pay band. If you earn more than £2,020 a month, 17% is taken of the first £2,020, plus 50% of everything you earn over that amount.

 What you need to know:

  • Employer rules: Your employer can legally deduct an additional £1 per payment to cover their own administrative costs.
  • Limits: The council can have a maximum of 2 Attachment of Earnings Orders active at any one time.
  • Stopping the order: Once issued, the order cannot be stopped unless the debt is paid in full or you can prove the order will cause you severe financial hardship and arrange an alternative payment method directly with the council.

If you are struggling to manage payments or believe an order is incorrect, contact us immediately to discuss an individual repayment plan, or you can seek free guidance from organizations like StepChange or CAB.

A Liability Order will allow us to recover debt by making deductions from your benefits. We can order the DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) to deduct a regular amount. The DWP will make direct payments to us to reduce the balance of  your council tax arrears.

Benefit Deductions

We may be able to apply for deductions if you are receiving any of the following;

  • Jobseekers’ Allowance (JSA)
  • Income Support (IS)
  • Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
  • Pension Credit (PC)
  • Universal Credit (UC)

Only one attachment of benefit can be in force at any time.

How to stop deductions from your wage or benefits 

Once an attachment to your benefits is in force it will continue unless you pay the amount outstanding in full.

You must contact us if you are suffering severe financial hardship due to the attachment. You will need to provide an offer of repayment with evidence of your financial situation. The following evidence will enable us to consider an alternative payment arrangement:

  • bank statements,
  • proof of incomings and outgoings
  • copies of bills.

You can contact us about deductions from your benefits on 01306 885001 and ask for the Revenues Team.

We employ certificated enforcement agents to collect the debt and/or distrain on goods and chattels to be sold at auction to settle the whole or part of the debt.

If we pass your unpaid debt to an enforcement agent, you will have to pay a fixed fee of £75 that is legally due. This will apply to each liability order we send them.

More information can be found here: Enforcement Agents and Fees.

If the enforcement agents return the Liability Order endorsed as ‘no effects’ and we have not been able to collect the money in any other way, MVDC can ask the Magistrates to consider sending you to prison for non-payment of Council Tax.

Magistrates’ Court: We can apply to the Magistrates’ Court for a committal order if  you have the means to pay but have wilfully refused to do so. 

Court Enquiry: The Magistrates will enquire into your means and whether the failure to pay is due to wilful refusal or culpable neglect. 

Commitment: If the court finds the failure to be due to wilful refusal or culpable        neglect, it may issue a warrant for you to be sent to prison. 

Duration: The committal order can result in a prison sentence of up to 90 days for each liability order that you owe. 

Additional Costs: We will also request that the court award costs against you in respect of the committal summons. 

Ongoing obligation: If you are sent to prison you will still owe the outstanding amount of Council Tax plus the additional costs incurred.

It is crucial for anyone facing Council Tax arrears to seek independent legal advice and explore all available options to avoid the severest of consequences for non-payment which can include imprisonment.  

If you wish to dispute either the liability for the Council Tax or the amount of the summons, you should immediately contact us.

If the matter is not resolved you should attend the court hearing.

Valid reasons why a liability order should not be granted include:

  • there is no valid entry in the banding list for the period of liability
  • the tax has not been properly set
  • the tax has not been properly demanded
  • the amount demanded has been paid
  • more than six years have elapsed since the day on which the sum became due, or six years have elapsed since the debt was last acknowledged
  • the sum is in respect of a penalty, which is subject to an appeal
  • bankruptcy or winding-up proceedings have been commenced

The summons is a legal document requiring you to attend a court hearing.

You have the right to attend the hearing to give evidence as to why an order should not be made, however you should note that the hearing can proceed in your absence.
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