Council Tax text, email and voice messaging service
If we have your contact details, we may contact you about your Council Tax account by text message, email or voice message. We will also continue to send formal Council Tax notices by post.
This is in addition to statutory reminder notices, final notices and summons notifications that we already send by post.
When we may contact you
If your Council Tax account falls into arrears, we may contact you by text message, email reminder or voice message before taking further recovery action.
This service can help prevent statutory recovery notices being issued. It may also help you avoid paying additional costs by giving you the chance to act before formal recovery proceedings begin.
Do not rely on texts and emails to remind you
This service is offered to help stop accounts falling further into arrears, but you should not rely on it.
You are responsible for paying the instalments due on your account, in line with your bill. If you do not pay, we may take recovery action.
Please note: Emails and texts are not part of the legal Council Tax billing and recovery process. Do not depend on them to remind you to pay.
How the Council Tax team will contact you
If your device supports Rich Communication Services (RCS), you will see that we are a verified sender so you know the message is genuine.
Links in our messages will always include ‘swindon.gov.uk’.
We may contact you using one or more of the following:
- SMS message, titled ‘Swindon BC’
- Email, from ‘info.swindon.gov.uk’
- Voice message, from 0345 302 2316
If you are not sure whether a message is from us, contact us directly or log in to check your account.
Example SMS message and verification
- The SMS message will include a link to a verification screen
- To open the message, enter your postcode as requested
- Once verified, you will be presented with the message
