May is a busy period for our Citizens Advice network in supporting people with council tax debt.

This spike which advisers see every year is caused by two factors coming together: new council tax bills being issued in April and the speed of the debt recovery process. Miss a payment and within a matter of weeks a person can be held liable for the whole year’s bill and have funds taken from their bank account. Yet many of the people we advise on council tax debt struggle to meet payment due to lack of income and the need to prioritise other essential living costs. It begs the question of the recovery process – if someone is unable to meet a single payment then how on earth can they afford to pay for an entire year?

The current process is........

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