Find out about changes to our services and Christmas opening times on our Festive information page. To find out when your bin will be collected over the festive period, visit Changes to County Durham bin collections at Christmas.

Due to maintenance, the following systems will be unavailable from 11.45am on Tuesday 24 December until 8.00am on Thursday 2 January: our online Council Tax, business rates and housing benefit services, and our welfare assistance form. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Pay your Council Tax

There are a number of ways you can pay your Council Tax.

The quickest and easiest way to pay - set up a direct debit.

Pay online

Pay your council tax online using our Council Tax payment system.

You will need a debit/credit card, and your Council Tax account number, which is on the front of your bill.

Phone

Contact 24 hour payment line. Pay with your credit or debit card using our automated service. You'll need your card, the account number from the front of your bill and a pen to note your receipt number.

Other ways to pay

There are other ways to pay your council tax.

Through your bank

Make payments, through your bank, to Lloyds Bank Plc, account number 51009868, sort code 30-92-79. Please make sure you quote your Council Tax account number, which is on the front of your bill

At the post office or a PayPoint outlet

All council tax bills contain a bar code. Take your bill to any Post Office or PayPoint outlet where it can be scanned and you can make a payment. You can find your nearest outlet using the following:

By post

Send payment to the address included in 'Contact us' '(top right of the page). Please do not send cash through the post. Cheques should be made payable to Durham County Council. Your council tax account number should be quoted on the back of the cheque.

Contact Council tax