Paying your council tax

Your annual bill is called a 'Council tax demand notice 2024/25' – the legal name for a council tax bill in the UK – or simply 'Council tax bill 2024/25'.

When you should get your bill

If you signed-up to get your bill online, you'll be sent details in the week from Monday 11 March 2024.

If you still receive your bill in the post, it should arrive in the fortnight from Monday 18 March 2024.

Your property valuation

Your bill tells you which valuation band your property has been given. A valuation band is a range of property values, represented by a letter from A to H. The higher the letter, the higher the estimated value of your property compared with other properties.

Your property valuation band is decided by the UK Valuation Office Agency (VOA) – Thurrock Council cannot change your valuation band.

Find out about:

• council tax amounts to be paid in 2024/25 for properties in each valuation band
• how valuations are decided
• appeals against council tax bands

Your account reference

Your bill tells you the council tax account reference number for your household. It may be labelled on your bill as either 'Account Reference' or 'Account Number'. This is a 10-digit number that begins '22'.

You must use this reference number when managing your council tax online, or when making a payment, or when you have any council tax query. You can:

• manage your council tax online
• make a council tax payment

Annual charge

Your bill tells you the total amount of council tax you must pay each year. It also shows how much of that total goes to different organisations' services.

The amounts of your overall annual charge that go to Thurrock Council are labelled 'Thurrock Borough Council' and '*Adult Social Care'.

Every council tax bill-payer must pay towards all these services – you cannot refuse to pay all or part of your full bill on the grounds that you do not use all these services.

Having to pay council tax doesn’t depend on you giving consent or having a contract with us. For more information about this, go to 'Freemen' and challenges to liability.

Adult social care

The government expects councils to include an extra amount – called a 'precept' – on all bills to help pay for the rising cost of care in our old age. This is shown on your bill as '*Adult Social Care'.

Every council tax bill-payer must pay this amount, whether or not anyone in their household currently uses adult social care services.

The extra amount for adult social care goes to Thurrock Council.

Policing, fire and rescue

Your bill tells you how much of your council tax bill goes towards policing, fire and rescue across the whole of Essex. You must pay these amounts, even if you have not used these services directly. They are shown on your bill as:

• Essex Fire Authority – this is Essex County Fire and Rescue Service
• Police & C C For Essex – this is Essex Police and the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex

When we collect council tax payments, we keep the amount that will go towards funding council services and we pay the police and fire authorities their shares directly.

Total amount payable

If your bill shows a 'Maximum gross amount payable', this is the amount to be paid for the whole year before any discounts, exemptions or premiums have been applied.

If you have claimed a discount or exemption, or if you must pay an extra premium, then this will be shown in the box below and will either reduce or increase the total bill.

The amount shown as 'Total' or 'Total Outstanding' is your bill after any discounts, exemptions or premiums have been applied – it is the total amount you must pay.

To find out about discounts, exemptions or premiums, go to:

• who must pay council tax
• council tax discounts
• council tax exemptions and premiums

Paying your bill and when instalments are due

You can choose to pay all your council tax in a single payment, but most people pay a smaller amount each month.

Your bill will tell you when your first instalment – your first monthly payment – is due, and how much you must pay. It will also tell you how much you must pay each month for the rest of the year to March 2025.

The first instalment is usually different to the amounts for the rest of the year. This is because the total bill for the year usually doesn't divide exactly by the number of months, so we include the difference in the first month.

There are many ways to pay your council tax – go to paying your council tax.

By far the easiest, most convenient way for you to pay is by direct debit.

Choosing to get your bill online

Many people now find it more convenient to get their council tax bill online.

To find out about online billing – called eBilling – go to getting your bill online.

This year's increase in council tax

For 2024/25, the government has given us permission to increase council tax by more than 5%. The overall increase for 2024/25 is 7.46%. This includes increases of:

• 7.98% on the share for council services, including adult social care
• 5.55% on the share for policing and community safety
• 2.91% on the share for fire and rescue services

This year's overall increase of 7.46% is lower than the overall increase for previous year of 9.44%. The increase of 7.98% for council services is lower than the previous year's increase of 9.99%

We know that any increase will be difficult for some households. For advice on where to get help with bills and other costs, go to support with the cost of living.

Leaflets with bills

To reduce costs we have not included any additional leaflets with council tax bills for 2024/25.

Getting a copy of your council tax bill

To download your bill or to request or request a copy of your printed bill, go to getting your bill online