Council Tax collection and recovery stages

The legislation under which we are obliged to levy and collect Council Tax is available at www.legislation.gov.uk and is:

• Local Government Finance Act 1992
• The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 1992 (as amended)
• Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002
• The Water and Sewerage Services to Dwellings (Collection of Unmetered Charges by Local Authority) (Scotland) Order 2014 (as amended)
• The Water and Sewerage Services to Dwellings (Collection of Unmetered Charges by Local Authority) (Scotland) Order 2020
• The Water and Sewerage Services to Dwellings (Collection of Unmetered Charges by Local Authority) (Scotland) Order 2023

Council Tax is normally payable over 10 monthly instalments from April to January, unless you move into a property part way through the year, in which case payment will be spread over the remaining payment months. The council issue bills at the start of each financial year, and throughout the year, advising of the total payable and the amount of each instalment.

Each instalment must reach the council by the 1st of the month unless you pay by Direct Debit, in which case you can choose to pay on the 1st, 7th, 14th, 21st or 28th of the month. Further information is available on our how to pay page.

If you receive a reminder notice, you will be asked to bring your payments up to date within seven days.

If you pay the amount requested within seven days you can resume paying by instalments as normal, but please note that your next monthly instalment may also have become payable during this process and will need to be paid if you want to avoid further recovery notices. Please note that you are normally allowed two reminder notices in any financial year. However, if you fall into arrears for a first or second time after 31 December, you will not be sent a reminder notice, but will instead be sent a Final notice. 

If you do not pay the amount requested within seven days, you will lose the right to pay by instalments and the full remaining balance for the year will become due seven days thereafter, at which point an application will be made to the Sheriff Court requesting that a summary warrant be granted for recovery of the debt, without further notification to you.

If you are having difficulty paying and need help, please see our problems paying Council Tax page.

Final notices are only issued in the following scenarios:

• Where you have already had two reminders during the financial year, and paid them, but have fallen into arrears for a third time
• Where you fail to pay any instalment which is due after 31 December
• Where you fail to pay a single instalment bill

If you receive a final notice, you have lost the right to pay by instalments and are liable to pay the full balance within 14 days. If you do not pay the amount requested within 14 days, an application will be made to the Sheriff Court requesting that a summary warrant be granted for recovery of the debt, without further notification to you.

If you are having difficulty paying and need help, please see our problems paying Council Tax page.

Once a Summary Warrant has been granted by the Sheriff Court, 10% costs will be imposed on your remaining balance. A notice will not be issued advising you of this. Your account will then be passed to Stirling Park, or a request made to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) for deductions to be taken from your benefits, without further notification to you.

Stirling Park are a firm of Sheriff Officers and debt collection service providers contracted by the council to recover Council Tax arrears. If you have received a letter from them you should contact them immediately to discuss settlement of the debt. Their contact details are noted below:

Address: Stirling Park, 25 Bank Street, Kilmarnock, KA1 1HA

Telephone (collections): 01563 546518

Email (general enquiries): Info@stirlingpark.co.uk

Website: www.stirlingpark.co.uk

If you do not pay the debt owed, or make arrangements to do so, they will add additional fees which will be due in addition to the council tax already owed. They can also arrest your wages or your bank/building society account.

Where required, we will share your information with Stirling Park for the purpose of performing our statutory collection duties, as allowed by data protection laws.

If you are in receipt of any of the benefits below, your debt will not be passed to Stirling Park. However, we will apply to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) or The Pension Service, asking them to deduct an amount from your benefit payments to be passed to the council to help reduce your arrears.

• Universal Credit
• Pension Credits (Guarantee Credit)
• Income Support
• Job Seekers Allowance (income based)
• Employment and Support Allowance (income related)

The amount that will be deducted will depend on the benefit you are in receipt of, other deductions that are already being taken from your benefit, and whether you are only liable to pay water and wastewater charges. However, it is unlikely that these deductions will be sufficient to clear your arrears by the end of the financial year, and you should contact us to discuss a repayment arrangement.

If you have arrears of £5000 or more the council can raise sequestration proceedings to have you declared bankrupt. This can result in the transfer of your assets, including your home, to the control of a trustee, who may sell your assets to pay your creditors. You will also be legally prohibited from obtaining credit. In such cases, the council would recommend that you seek the advice of an independent solicitor.