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Essex: Bailiffs calling to collect tax debts

9:00am Thursday 8th January 2009

By Helen Orrell

THOUSANDS of Essex residents are being called to court or visited by bailiffs for failing to pay their council tax.

Colchester Council summonsed 3,240 households to court last year for council tax arrears, new figures reveal.

And bailiffs visited 2,842 Colchester homes to collect council tax debts, and 16 residents were petitioned for bankruptcy between April and December last year.

It places the borough below the national average of 7,201 household summons, 3,356 bailiff visits and 14 bankruptcy cases.

Tendring was also below the national average with 5,388 people receiving court summons for council tax arrears in 2006 to 2007.

Last year Tendring Council ordered 2,726 bailiff visits and 22 residents were pursued for bankruptcy.

Critics say the statistics show councils are taking a heavy-handed approach to chase unpaid council tax as one in five bankruptcy petitions is now lodged by a local authority.

Colchester Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) said a quarter of all its clients with debt problems were experiencing problems paying their council tax.