Text and email reminder service

If your council tax account falls into arrears, we may send you a text or email. Find out how to check if these messages are genuine.

If your council tax account falls into arrears, we may send you a text or email before taking other recovery action.

This service can prevent statutory recovery notices from being issued and may help you avoid paying expensive costs.

Whilst this service is offered to prevent you from falling further into arrears, it should not be relied upon.  

It is your responsibility to maintain the instalments due on your account in line with your bill. Failure to do so any result in recovery action being taken.  

Checking a message is genuine

You will receive a text message that says:

"Dear (your name here). You currently have an outstanding matter with North Yorkshire Council. For details visit (link here). Please do not ignore this message"

This message will provide a link that takes you to the verification screen, you will be asked to verify your postcode.

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Example of council tax SMS message

You will receive an email that begins:

"Dear (your name here).

Council Tax reference number: (your reference number here)

Property address: (your address here)

You currently have an instalment of (amount here) outstanding on your Council Tax account which could be subject to recovery action if you ignore this message. "

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Example of council tax email

Council tax reduction scheme

If you struggling to pay your council tax bill and are on a low income or claim benefits, you can apply for a reduction in the council tax you pay. Find more information on our council tax reduction scheme page