Council Tax Hardship Scheme

If you are already receiving Council Tax Support and are still unable to pay your bill, you may be eligible for help from our Council Tax Hardship Scheme.

This scheme helps people who are experiencing exceptional financial hardship. We assess your eligibility based on your individual circumstances.

If you need help to pay your Council Tax bill and are not already claiming Council Tax Support you will need to apply for this first before you can apply for our hardship fund.

Go here to find more information about Council Tax Support to see if you are eligible.

The amount you receive and the length of time you receive it for depends on your circumstances. It is a limited fund and so we prioritise based on the needs of each applicant.

A hardship payment is used to reduce your overall Council Tax bill so if your hardship application is approved, we’ll write to you with all the details and a revised Council Tax bill.

Please apply as soon as possible, as we cannot guarantee that we will be able to backdate hardship fund payments.

For more information about this scheme, please see our Council Tax Hardship scheme policy document.

Apply

Please apply as soon as possible, as we cannot guarantee that we will be able to backdate hardship fund payments.

There are two stages to the application. Please note that both stages will need to be complete in order for us to assess your application.

Stage 1. Please download, complete and save a copy of this financial statement form and upload the completed form in page 3 of our online Council Tax Hardship application below.

Stage 2. Please complete our online Council Tax Hardship application and upload the copy of your completed financial statement on page 3 of 3 of the form here

What happens next

We will write to you within 4 weeks of receiving your application with a decision.

If your Hardship Fund application is approved, we will make the fund payment direct to your Council Tax account to reduce the amount of Council Tax payable and you will be issued with a revised Council Tax bill and a covering letter to confirm the period and amount of the award.

If you disagree with our decision

You can write to us to ask us to look at your case again within one calendar month of the date of our decision. We will write to you with our response.

The hardship fund is a discretionary fund, which means you have no entitlement or statutory rights under this scheme and our decisions are final with no right to appeal.