Council tax arrears are a growing problem across England and Wales, and can lead to serious consequences including enforcement agent visits and liability orders. For anyone already struggling financially, falling behind on council tax can quickly become one of the most stressful situations to deal with. But who is most likely to end up in council tax arrears, and what can you do to avoid it?

This article was originally published in a previous year and has been fully updated for 2026 to reflect current legislation, figures, and guidance.

Those most at risk tend to be people on lower incomes, particularly households affected by benefit changes over the past decade. The removal of the spare room subsidy (often called the bedroom tax) in 2013, combined with the shift from council tax benefit to localised council tax reduction schemes, left many families paying council tax for the first time. By 2025/26, councils across England collected over £40 billion in council tax annually, yet arrears continue to climb. Single-parent households, people on Universal Credit, and those in temporary or insecure work are disproportionately affected.

The pressures of rising living costs, higher energy bills, and stagnant wages mean more households than ever are having to choose between essentials. When council tax falls behind, local authorities can apply to a magistrates’ court for a liability order, after which enforcement agents (bailiffs) can be instructed to collect the debt. The fees added at each stage only make things harder to manage.

The good news is that help is available, and acting early makes a real difference. Your local council may offer a council tax reduction, a discretionary hardship fund, or a manageable payment arrangement. Citizens Advice and StepChange also provide free, confidential debt advice. If enforcement agents have already become involved, you still have rights, and there are rules they must follow under the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013.

If you are dealing with council tax arrears, do not ignore the problem. Reaching out for advice sooner rather than later can prevent the situation from escalating, protect your household, and help you regain control of your finances. Anyone can fall into council tax debt, but with the right support, it does not have to define your future.

How to stop an Earnings Arrestment Order

Have you received a letter from a sheriff officer such as Scott and Co or Stirling Park about an earnings arrestment order (also know as a wage arrestment) for unpaid council tax? Are you unsure what to do next? This article will explain what an earnings arrestment order is, why you’ve got one, how to stop an earnings arrestment and where you can get help with it.

When do you get an earnings arrestment order?

An earnings arrestment order is one of the ways that a council can recover unpaid council tax. Before an earnings arrestment order can be put in place, the council must have followed a procedure that is set out in law.

The first time and second times you miss a monthly council tax payment, the council will send you a reminder letter. The letters give you seven days to pay the outstanding amount.

If you do not pay your first or second missed council tax payment within seven days of receiving the reminder letter or if you miss a third payment, you will receive a final notice. The final notice will state that you have 14 days to pay the entire amount that is outstanding for the rest of the year.

If you miss a council tax payment for any reason, you may find it helpful to seek independent debt advice. Independent debt advisors such as Council Tax Advisors can provide free and impartial advice about how to sort out the problem.

If you do not pay your council tax after receiving a final notice or do not get in touch with the council to try to arrange payment, the council can apply for a summary warrant from the Sheriff Court.

The summary warrant will be sent to you by a sheriff officer.

Sheriff officers are private companies who have been given the power by the Sheriff Court to enforce court orders such as summary warrants. Councils hire sheriff officers to enforce summary warrants for unpaid council tax on their behalf. Two of the biggest firms of sheriff officers in Scotland are Scott & Co and Stirling Park, but there are many others and they can even be individuals working for themselves.

The summary warrant sent to you by the sheriff officer will include details of the amount of council tax you owe, plus a 10% penalty. It will also have details of the sheriff officer you need to contact to arrange payment of the debt.

When you receive a summary warrant, you have 14 days to get in touch with the sheriff officer and start to put a repayment plan in place. If you would like help with this, contact Council Tax Advisors who can negotiate on your behalf free of charge.

If you do not come to a repayment arrangement with the sheriff officers, they can ask you for information such as the name and address of your employer, your National Insurance number, your bank account details or the name and address of anyone else who is liable to pay your council tax with you. You must provide the information they request within 14 days or you may be fined.

At this point, the council will go back to the Sheriff Court to obtain a charge for payment. This usually lasts for 14 days. If you have not made arrangements to repay your council tax before then, the sheriff officer has the power to take the money you owe using the information you have given them. There are several ways they can do this. They can freeze your bank accounts, take money from your bank accounts or remove belongings from your home and sell them. They can also put an earnings arrestment order in place.

What is an earnings arrestment order?

An earnings arrestment order is an instruction to your employer to deduct money from your pay packet. Your employer automatically deducts a set amount from your wages and sends it to the court. This amount will be deducted from each pay packet until the debt is repaid. The court will decide how much money will be deducted from your pay packet each time. The total amount that you owe will be the amount of council tax that is outstanding, plus administration fees for the sheriff and your employer and interest.

The amount that will be deducted from your wages each time is calculated using a set formula. It depends on how much money you earn, including commission, bonuses and statutory sick pay. It doesn’t take into account any other debts or outgoings you may have. You will always be left with at least 60% of your net income (your income after tax). If your earnings change, so will the deductions.

Earnings arrestment orders cannot be placed on some people. If you are self employed, receive unemployment benefit or are in the armed forces, you cannot have an earnings arrestment order.

Before an earnings arrestment order is valid, all the steps in the previous section of this article must have been carried out. You must also have received a Debt Advice and Information Package (DAIP). This gives advice on dealing with debt and the options open to you. If you do not receive a copy of the DAIP, the earnings arrestment order is not valid.

An earnings arrestment order can have very serious consequences. Some employment contracts may say that an earnings arrestment order is a disciplinary matter. This may mean you could lose your job.

How can you stop an earning arrestment order?

There are several ways you may be able to stop an earnings arrestment order being carried out.

You can ask your council to put a repayment plan in place. If they agree to this, you can apply to the Sheriff Court for a suspended attachment of earnings order. However, if you don’t keep up the repayments you have agreed with the council, it can apply for another earnings arrestment order.

You may be able to claim that having an earnings arrestment order could lead to disciplinary action from your employer meaning that you could lose your job. This would mean that the council would not get the money that is owed to them.

You could consider a Debt Arrangement Scheme, which is a debt payment programme managed by the Scottish Government. When you have a debt payment programme (DPP) in place, you commit to repaying your debt based on your disposable income (the money you have left after paying all your bills) each month. A DPP can last any reasonable length of time, depending on the amount you owe and how much you can pay. You apply for a debt payment programme through an independent money advisor and they negotiate with your creditors (the people you owe money to) on your behalf. When a DPP is in place, all interest, fees, penalties or other charges owed are frozen. Your creditors are also prevented from taking any further action against you.

If you have debts of at least £5,000, you could consider putting a Trust Deed in place. A Trust Deed transfers your rights regarding your assets to a registered trustee. The registered trustee negotiates the repayment process with your creditors on your behalf. Each month for an agreed period of time, you will pay a sum of money agreed between the registered trustee and your creditors (the people you owe money to). The registered trustee must be a registered insolvency practitioner.

Where can you get help about an earnings arrestment order?

If you have received an earnings arrestment order, the most important thing to do is get help. Organisations such as Council Tax Advisors, which is the UK’s leading Council Tax advice organisation, provide all the help and support you need. First and foremost, their help will mean you are no longer alone. They have all the information you need at their fingertips and can advise on all the options open to you. They can negotiate with the council and the sheriff officer on your behalf. They can help to put affordable repayment plans in place. They may even be able to have your earnings arrestment order removed. And, in the case of Council Tax Advisors, all their services are free of charge. So if you have got problem debt or are worried about an earnings arrestment order, get help today. Independent and free advice from Council Tax Advisors is only a phone call away.

How to stop a Wage Arrestment for Council Tax

Are you struggling with council tax debt in Scotland?

Council tax debt can place severe strain on both you and your family. The payments can quickly pile up if unpaid and the tactics that can be used to recoup this debt can be particularly harsh.

One such tactic is known as wage arrestment.

Under this process the council can ask your employer to take regular deductions from your wages to repay the debt you owe.

If you are facing the prospect of wage arrestment, or are concerned about it being used to recover council tax debt, this article explains in clear terms exactly how it works and how it can be avoided.

If you would like to speak to a specialist adviser about wage arrestment you can call, or complete the form on this page, to access free, immediate professional advice.

The worst possible response to council tax debt is inaction

By speaking to our advisors you can avoid the increasingly drastic tactics that are used to recover this debt. You place yourself back in control.

There are no easy solutions to debt, but by taking positive steps you can avoid the most negative consequences.

If you need to understand just how wage arrestment is used, and what you can do if you are at risk of having it used against you, then read on to find out more.

If you are ready to take action and find a solution to your council tax debt in Scotland, then contact us today for advice and information. Call us or complete the form on this page.

What is wage arrestment?

Wage arrestment is increasingly being used to recover council tax debt in Scotland.

Under this tactic your employer is instructed to deduct money from your wages. Your employer must deduct an amount from your net earnings (that is your earnings after tax and national insurance) on each pay-day. This deduction must then be passed on to the council to pay off your council tax debt.

Although widely used for council tax debt wage arrestment can be used for other forms of debt as well.

Indeed it is part of a set of procedures that are collectively known as diligence against earnings.

• Wage arrestment is used to collect a single debt
• Current maintenance arrestment is used to enforce the payment of maintenance, such as that awarded by a court during a divorce settlement
• A conjoined arrestment order is granted by the court to enforce payment of two or more of the same type of debts

The important point to note here is that a conjoined arrestment can be used for two or more wage arrestments that are in place at the same time but not for an earnings arrestment and current maintenance arrestment.

Need to speak to someone about wage arrestment? Our team of advisers are available to talk today. For a confidential, free consultation call us or complete the form on this page.

When can wage arrestment be used?

The usual process prior to a wage arrestment for council tax debt is as follows:

1. Reminder

The normal method for paying council tax is in 10 monthly instalments. If you miss a payment, the council should send you a reminder giving you seven days to pay the outstanding amount.

2. Final notice

If you fail to pay the missing instalment after a reminder, however, you will lose your right to pay by instalments. In this case you will receive a final notice giving you 14 days to pay the whole amount outstanding for the remainder of the financial year.
(It is still possible with some councils at this point to negotiate to pay in instalments if you contact them directly.)

3. Summary warrant

If this lump sum is not paid then the council can apply to the sheriff court for a summary warrant. This is a certificate from the sheriff court stating the amount of council tax you owe.

You do not have to be told that the council are applying for a summary warrant. Likewise you will not have the opportunity to negotiate with the court before one is granted. You will only know about it the summary warrant when you receive notification of it in the post.
The summary warrant is issued by the sheriff officers. It will state the amount due and who to contact to arrange to pay this. Your payments are no longer made to the council but to the sheriff officers. The amount due will have increased as there is an automatic penalty fine of 10% when a summary warrant is issued.

4. Arranging repayments

At this stage you can arrange to repay the money at a rate that is comfortable for you. If you decide to do so make sure you come to an arrangement that you will be able to stick to. It is better to pay a little regularly over a longer period of time than to try to stretch yourself and risk missing payments.

5. Charge for payment

If you do not come to a repayment arrangement the sheriff officers can ask you to provide any of the following information:

• The name and address of your employer
• Your national insurance number
• Your bank account details
• The name and address of anyone else who is liable to pay your council tax with you

There is an additional fine if you fail to provide this within 14 days.

In the meantime the council will obtain a charge for payment. You should get advice to check that these legal documents are correctly filled in because if your name or what you owe is incorrect the documents may not be valid.

Also, when this charge for payment is served on you it must be accompanied by a Debt Advice and Information Package explaining your rights and encouraging you to go for advice. If this is not done any attempt to arrest your wages is illegal.

You can check what the Debt Advice and Information Package should look like by downloading this PDF from here.

Once this charge for payment expires, usually after 14 days, sheriff officers have powers to get the money from you by:

• Arresting your earnings
• Freezing your bank accounts
• Taking money from your bank accounts
• Removing belongings from your home and selling them

It is not too late to act once a charge for payment has been issued. Before it expires you can still make arrangements to put in place a repayment plan. Doing this will prevent the actions listed above from being taken.
There are many stages where you can take control of your debt rather than having it managed for you. If you need to speak to a skilled adviser for a free consultation call us or complete the form on this page.

Who can receive a wage arrestment?

The fact is that most of us can receive a wage arrestment: in brief, anyone who is employed (apart from serving members of the armed forces) can have their wages arrested.

• You must be employed as opposed to self-employed (self-employed people cannot have their earnings arrested)
• You must not be on benefits (such as unemployment benefits)
• You must not be in the armed forces
• Your debt must be more than £50

How much of my wages can be taken?

There are strict rules about how much money can be taken from your wages, and also procedures in place to govern what happens if more than one creditor tries to arrest your wages.

The amount taken depends on how much you earn. Any payments for commission, bonuses or statutory sick pay will be considered as part of your wages.

You can get more advice about how much can be taken towards your debts by speaking to one of our specialist advisers.

Need to know just how much of your wages may be at risk? Speak to a adviser today: call us or complete the form on this page.

How will my employer react?

It’s unlikely that any employer is going to look favorably on what is an increased administrative burden. It is their legal duty to deduct whatever the courts insist from your wages. Your employer can also deduct a £1.00 administration fee every time the money is taken from your salary.

Wage arrestment can be uncomfortable for you at work but it is not likely to be more than that. However, you may, as a condition of your employment, have a clause in your contract that states that wages arrestment is a matter for which you should be disciplined. This is often the case in work in, for example, financial institutions.

In such circumstances you can apply to the court for a Suspended Attachment of Earnings Order. If you can supply compelling reasons why the wage arrestment should be suspended, you may be able to prevent it. One such reason may be dismissal or disciplinary proceedings at work.

If you need advice about any aspect of wage arrestment contact us now to speak to our team of advisers. Call us or complete the form on this page.