Dealing with debt

Please do not be afraid to contact us if you are having difficulties in paying your council tax. Contact 01395 517448 as soon as possible.

Arrangements
We may be able to come to an alternative payment arrangement with you, for example, by rescheduling your instalments with weekly or fortnightly payments, but we can only do that if you contact us. If we make an arrangement with you, you must keep to it to avoid further recovery action. We will never refuse payments and it is always better to pay something rather than nothing at all.

You may find it useful in dealing with your debt to use our PDF file Statement of Means form (78KB - 06 April 2009 - PDF Help). It will help you to have a closer look at your income and outgoings and draw up a repayment plan .

Agencies providing free debt advice

  • PDF file Citizens Advice Bureau (15KB - 28 January 2009 - PDF Help)  - CASED (Citizens Advice Service East Devon) serves the whole of the East Devon area. The phone numbers are 01395 264645 for Exmouth and the surrounding area or 01404 44213 for Honiton, Sidmouth and Axminster.
  • National Debtline – on-line or phone 0808 808 4000
  • Community Legal Advice – on-line or phone 0845 3454345
  • Turn2us.org.uk - on-line or phone 0808 802 2000
  • Christians Against Poverty - on-line or phone 0800 328 0006. CAP will give free debt counselling to anyone in East Devon living in postcodes EX8, EX9 or EX11.

Do not ignore the bill. Council tax is a priority debt and the consequences of not paying can be severe.

                                                             Paying by Direct Debit

Paying by Direct Debit can help you manage your money more easily. You need have no worries about red letters or summonses because we will take the right payment at the right time. We have now extended the choice of payment dates to the 1st, 17th or 25th of each month and you may be able to extend the payment period from 10 to 12 monthly instalments. Take control of your budget before you get into debt. If you would like to change to Direct Debit, please call us on 01395 517446 and we will simply take the details over the phone.

Page last updated on 20 January 2012