Don't pay your council tax? We'll bankrupt you say Kirklees

Jan 14 2009 by Barry Gibson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

He said: “Petitioning for bankruptcy is the next step.

“It is very much a last resort, but it is a legitimate tool to obtain payment. In recent years the council has issued about 50 petitions a year and around three fifths of these actually result in bankruptcy.”

Kirklees can also apply for a charging order to claim back council tax arrears when a house is sold.

Clr Palfreeman said: “Last year we applied for just over 100 charging orders and obtained most of them. The threat of this drastic action often results in payment, but in about 10% of cases the council obtains an order for sale to secure payment of the debt.”

Clr Palfreeman believes chasing up non-payers helps keep council tax down for everyone.

He said: “Last year, using these methods of collection, we recovered almost £900,000 of debt, which would otherwise have been unpaid.

“This enables us to keep collection rates high and council tax rises low.”