Planned System Maintenance - Limited Service

Sunderland City Council will be carrying out planned system maintenance from 12 noon on Friday 5th June until 7am on Tuesday 9th June. During this period, we will only be able to respond to urgent enquiries. If your enquiry is not urgent, please contact us before or after these times when full services will be available. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your understanding.

Trouble paying your Council Tax bill

Council Tax helps fund essential city services, so we act quickly if payments fall into arrears. However, we understand financial difficulties can arise and want to ensure you are not overpaying.

If you are struggling to pay your Council Tax bill, don't wait for a reminder notice or court summons. Please look at some of the options below that might help your financial situation.

Check you're paying the right Council Tax

Review your bill to make sure you are being charged correctly. If you're eligible for a discount or exemption, such as the 25% single person discount, check that it's applied to your bill. You can see what you might be entitled to on the discounts, reductions and exemptions page.

Housing Benefits and Council Tax Support

If you are on a low income you may be entitled to support to help you pay your Council Tax.

Housing Benefit is help towards paying your rent. If you live in privately rented accommodation Local Housing Allowance (LHA) may be used to calculate your entitlement to Housing Benefit.

Council Tax support helps reduce the Council Tax you or your partner pay. The amount is taken off your bill directly. Sunderland's scheme follows guidance from the Government.

Pay priority bills first

Always pay these bills before things like credit cards or subscriptions:

Rent or mortgage
Gas and electricity
Council Tax
TV licence
Court fines
Child support

These are called priority debts because missing payments can lead to serious consequences, such as:

Losing your home
Going to prison

Manageable repayments and recovery process

If you are struggling to pay your Council Tax and do not get in touch with us, recovery action will begin. This may include reminders, court summons, and Liability Orders with added costs.

For full details on payment arrangements and the recovery process, please visit our What happens if you dont pay your Council Tax bill page.

Help and advice

If money worries are becoming overwhelming, please don't panic, support is available. If you are having problems paying your Council Tax or struggling with debt, you can access free confidential and independent advice from a number of advice providers in Sunderland.

Please take this opportunity to bring your payments up to date to avoid recovery action occurring on your account or to speak to an advisor who may be able to offer support to help you to pay your Council Tax. Remember paying by Direct Debit ensures all your payments are made on time, or you can pay online make an online payment.