Families throughout Britain worry the knock of the bailiffs on the door with council tax debt hitting £5.5billion.

Council tax arrears grew by greater than half a billion kilos within the 12 months to March and have greater than doubled within the final 10 years, in response to a brand new evaluation by the Centre for Social Justice.

The main assume tank is looking for a change in laws so households that miss a single month-to-month fee are not pursued for a complete 12 months’s council tax invoice.

It claims {that a} household in a median Band D property might miss a single fee of £206.50 and be made chargeable for the complete annual fee of £2,065.

The CSJ warns that this may ship susceptible folks right into a “debt spiral”, with failure to pay the complete quantity leading to “unscrupulous” bailiffs coming to properties to grab items and gather funds. Bailiffs can add charges at each stage of the gathering course of, pushing folks additional into debt.

Giles Watling, the Conservative MP for Clacton, mentioned: “It cannot be fair that those struggling to make one payment are expected to pay for their entire annual bill in a single lump sum or that councils continue to let bailiffs pile fees onto vulnerable debtors without ever checking their ability to pay.”

The assume tank says “more than 90 percent of people experience a decline in their mental health when they find themselves in debt”.

Matthew Greenwood, head of debt on the CSJ, mentioned: “We don’t live in the 1990s anymore and the vast majority of people are perfectly willing to pay their council tax. Outdated regulation and overzealous use of bailiffs drives vulnerable families, who can’t afford their bills, into a debt spiral while worsening their issue with further fees.

“We need a new conversation about how we help vulnerable families out of debt. It is with targeted support and long-term repayment plans that the public purse can get the money it is owed, not aggressive collection.”