Major change to council tax payments proposed - how it could affect your bill
Millions of households will have their council tax spread out over 12 months by default under major changes being proposed today. Under current rules, council tax is normally split over ten monthly payments, from April to January each year.
You can request your payments be split over 12 months instead, to give yourself smaller payments - but under a new consultation being launched today, the Government wants to make this the default.
The average band D household would pay approximately £38 less each month if they paid over 12 months, according to figures from the the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Households will still be able to pay their council tax bill over ten months if they want to. The consultation is also proposing slowing down the debt collection process for when someone has missed a council tax payment.
If you miss just one council tax payment, you can receive a demand to pay the rest of your yearly bill upfront. Councils can then send in bailiffs if you continue to not pay, which results in added legal costs being added to your bill.
The consultation is looking at capping additional costs and ensuring households are given information about what help they could be entitled to, if they are struggling to pay.
It will also become easier to challenge your council tax band, if you believe you may be paying too much. It is estimated that around 400,000 people are on too high of a band.
Finally, the Government is looking to change the outdated name of the "severe mental impairment" discount, which gives qualifying households up to 100% off their council tax bill, to "significant cognitive impairment" discount.
The Government plans to run the consultation for 12 weeks, from June 20 to September 12. Any changes will be confirmed in autumn.
Minister for Local Government and English Devolution, Jim McMahon OBE said: 'As part of our Plan for Change, we're putting working people first.
'We are listening and taking action to make council tax fairer, more transparent and easier to manage. Under our plans, local government will be there to support, and not to punish, people who fall behind.'
Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com and Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, said: 'Many parts of the council tax system are broken.
'Having called for some of these fixes for nearly 20 years, I'm delighted the government has listened and rapidly launched this long-due consultation, including many of the administration areas I hear the most complaints on.
'Council tax rapid and aggressive debt collection methods currently hurt millions and disproportionately affect those with mental health problems.
"Within three weeks of missing a monthly payment many councils say you must pay for the whole year… ridiculous, how can people who can't afford to pay for a month, suddenly pay for a year?
"After a further three weeks councils can call bailiffs in and rack up charges on charges. No commercial lender is allowed to behave like this, meaning constituents are treated worse than consumers.'
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