A court hearing is where we ask the magistrates to grant a Liability Order — a court order confirming that you owe the Council Tax and allowing us to recover it. The date of the hearing is on your Summons.
A court hearing follows a Summons for unpaid Council Tax. Why a Summons is issued, and how to pay it, is on late or non-payment of Council Tax.
What happens at the hearing
You do not need to attend the Court Hearing if you acknowledge you owe the money.
If you attend at court on the date stated on the summons, you may be refused entry to the building as you won't have followed the court procedure for attending hearings as stipulated by the court itself. Refer to the notice accompanying the summons.
- We will apply for a Liability Order in your absence, together with additional costs, if the full amount, including the Summons costs is not paid by the hearing date.
- We will hold any further recovery action once we have obtained the Liability Order, providing you pay strictly in line with any arrangement, but you will still have to pay both the Summons and Liability Order costs.
If you disagree with the Summons
A court can refuse to issue a liability order for two main reasons, and there are two further recognised defences. All four are set out below.
- you have paid the amount in full, including costs, if payment received by us on or after the date the Summons was issued or
- we have not done what we were supposed to in the four points below
The Council must prove to the Court:
- There is an entry for the property in the Council Tax Banding List. It is not a valid defence to a liability order to say you do not agree with your council tax band. You can appeal against your Council Tax band to the HMRC Valuation Office. If you are successful, you will receive a refund if you have overpaid.
- The Council Tax has been properly set and this has been advertised in a local newspaper (this is done at the time of the Annual Bills being issued).
- The Council Tax Bill and Reminders have been issued correctly (the bill can be issued electronically, ie online via Cheshire East Account).
It is not a defence to say that you did not receive it. - You have not paid the tax, or part of it.
If you have paid the tax, but not the costs, we can still ask for a liability order and use it to collect the costs.
If the magistrates decide that it is likely that these things are true, they must make a liability order.
Additional recognised defences to a liability order
- More than 6 years have passed since the balance became due
- Bankruptcy proceedings have commenced
If the magistrates decide you do not have a valid defence, they must make a liability order. They cannot take into account why you have not paid or any personal or financial circumstances.
Things which are not defences to a liability order
Magistrates cannot consider
- whether the council was right to order you to pay Council Tax on your property
- whether you should pay the tax
- whether the amount claimed is wrong
- whether you should get Council Tax Support
- whether your Council Tax Support has been worked out correctly.
The Magistrates cannot address these points in a liability order hearing but you can contact the Council tax Team with details of your enquiry.
If your query is about Council Tax Support, you can visit the Council Tax Support page for further guidance.
What to do if you still want to challenge the Summons
Do not just turn up at court.
Any dispute you have about the validity of the Summons should be raised directly with us in the first instance by filling in our court hearing form. Contact us as soon as possible after you receive the Summons, and at least 2 weeks before the hearing.
- We will only normally deal with the person named on the Summons but if someone else is helping you with this you can give us permission to talk to them by signing and returning our authority to disclose form:
- We will aim to contact you within 5 working days to discuss the issue. You must provide a telephone contact number and email address to allow this
- If you then, still wish to challenge the application for a liability order, we will contact the court to arrange for your case to be heard in person, remotely, on another date
Contact Council Tax
If you're unable to use our forms or have any questions about your bill you can call the Council Tax Customer Service Team on 0300 123 5013 between 8:30am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays.