Priority Debts: Which Debts to Pay First

Data last checked on 8 October 2026.

Checked against MoneyHelper, legislation.gov.uk, GOV.UK and one other official source. Edited by Steven Butler.

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Priority debts carry the most serious consequences if you do not pay them, and those consequences can affect your home, your health or lead to legal action. If you cannot keep up with repayments, list all your debts and sort them into debt emergencies, priority debts and non-priority debts.

Key points

✓A priority debt carries the most serious consequences if you do not pay it, and it does not have to be your largest debt.
✓MoneyHelper's list includes court fines, Council Tax or Rates, TV Licence, Child Maintenance, gas and electricity bills, Income Tax, National Insurance and VAT, and your mortgage, rent and any loans secured against your home.
✓Overdrafts, personal loans, credit card, store card and payday loan debts, and money borrowed from friends or family are examples of non-priority debts.
✓MoneyHelper's two guides disagree on water: one lists it as non-priority but worth weighing alongside priority bills, the other calls a water bill a priority. Either way, your water cannot be cut off in the same way as electricity.
✓If you miss a Council Tax payment, your council sends a reminder notice giving you 7 days to pay, and if you do not pay within 7 days you owe the whole year's Council Tax.

Priority debts, the most serious

Priority debts carry the most serious consequences if you do not pay them. They are not always the largest debts or the ones with the highest interest rates, but missing them could lead to serious problems.

Priority debts can include:

Yes: Mortgage, rent and any loans secured against your home
Yes: Council Tax or Rates
Yes: Gas and electricity bills
Yes: Court fines
Yes: TV Licence
Yes: Child Maintenance
Yes: Income Tax, National Insurance and VAT
Yes: Hire purchase agreements, if what you are buying with them is essential
Yes: Missed payments owed to DWP or HMRC

If you are struggling to make repayments on time, split your debts into debt emergencies, priority debts and non-priority debts. Missing priority debts could mean a visit from bailiffs, a court summons, bankruptcy, your gas and electricity cut off, losing your home, and, in the most serious cases of unpaid Council Tax or TV Licence, imprisonment.

Court fines: ignoring a fine could lead to money taken from your wages or benefits, bailiffs sent to collect the debt, the fine on your credit record for five years, and prison if you keep ignoring it
TV Licence: you risk prosecution and a fine, plus any legal costs and compensation you may be ordered to pay
Child maintenance: money can be taken from your wages or bank account, and you could face fines, court action or even prison in serious cases
Income Tax and VAT: you could face extra charges, debt collectors, money taken from your account, court action or even prison in serious cases
Money owed to DWP: DWP can take money from your wages or pass the debt to a collection agency
Hire purchase: if you have paid less than a third, the lender can take back the item, and if you have paid more than a third, it needs a court order to repossess or make you pay
Car finance can count as a priority payment if you need the car for essential use

MoneyHelper's guide to prioritising debts lists water and sewerage bills as non-priority but worth weighing alongside your priority bills, while its Bill prioritiser calls a water bill a priority. Your water cannot be cut off in the same way as electricity. If a water bill goes unpaid, the water company can take you to court and get money deducted from your benefits to pay your bills and debt.

Once a court has granted a child maintenance liability order, the Child Maintenance Service can ask bailiffs to seize and sell the paying parent's belongings, sell their property or assets through an order for sale, send them to prison, and stop them getting or keeping a driving licence. The service must leave you with enough money to live on, and you must pay priority debts first: things like mortgage repayments, rent, utility bills, taxes and court fines.

Non-priority debts

Missing non-priority debts has less serious consequences, though your creditor could eventually take you to court or instruct bailiffs to collect the money.

These are not priority debts:

No: Overdrafts
No: Personal loans, and bank or building society loans
No: Credit card and store card debts, and payday loans
No: Catalogue, home credit or in-store credit debts
No: Money borrowed from friends or family
No: Student loans: you only repay if your income is above a certain threshold
No: A Parking Charge Notice from a private operator, because they can often be challenged

A County Court Judgment is registered at the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines. If you pay it off in full within 30 days of receiving the judgment you can apply through the court to have it removed, otherwise it stays on the Register for six years. If you do not keep to the terms of a CCJ, the creditor can ask the court to enforce the debt by bailiff action, a Charging Order or an Attachment of Earnings Order. Our County Court Judgments guide and our credit report guide cover it.

Mortgage and rent arrears

Mortgage payments are a priority, so get in touch with your lender as soon as possible
Rent is a priority payment, so tell your landlord or housing association as soon as possible if you cannot pay on time
You might be eligible for benefits like Universal Credit or a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) to help cover rent
In England, you are threatened with homelessness if it is likely you will become homeless within 56 days, and the council must then take reasonable steps to help you keep your accommodation, if it is satisfied you are eligible

If you do not pay your mortgage you could risk losing your home through repossession, damage your credit score, pay extra fees or court costs, and find it harder to get credit or a mortgage in future. Our mortgage arrears guide covers what your lender must do and how a possession hearing works. If you do not pay your rent you could be evicted from your home, lose your deposit, get a bad credit record and struggle to rent elsewhere. Always turn up to a court hearing: it gives you the chance to come to an agreement.

Council tax arrears

Council Tax is a priority debt you must pay, because the consequences of falling behind can be worse than with other debts.

Reminder and final notice

If you miss a payment, your council sends a reminder notice giving you 7 days to pay. If you do not pay within 7 days, you have to pay the whole year's Council Tax instead. You get a maximum of 2 reminder notices in a financial year. If you miss a payment for the third time, your council sends a final notice saying you must pay the whole year's Council Tax.

Liability order

Your council can ask a magistrate for a liability order if you owe unpaid Council Tax. It is a legal demand for payment, and the council's legal costs may be added to what you owe. You are allowed to go to court and give your reasons for not paying.

Enforcement options

Your council can get your employer to pay your unpaid Council Tax directly from your wages, apply to take money from certain benefits, and send bailiffs to seize your property if there is no other way to recover the debt.

Court

Your council can take you to court if you do not pay and the bailiffs cannot recover enough property to cover the debt. You can be sent to prison for up to 3 months if the court decides you have no good reason not to pay and you refuse to do so.

If you are struggling, contact your council as soon as possible, even if you are already behind. You can choose to spread your payments over 12 months instead of the usual 10, and your council may give you a one-off discount if you still cannot pay what you owe. Check whether you are eligible for Council Tax Reduction if you are on a low income or get benefits. Our Council Tax Reduction guide has the detail.

Energy bill arrears

Energy bills are a priority, and if you fall behind your supplier might take steps to collect the debt, such as switching you to a pre-payment meter or, in some cases, disconnecting your supply
Speak to your supplier early: it must work with you to agree an affordable plan, which can include reviewing existing payment plans, payment breaks or reductions, more time to pay, and access to hardship funds or grants
If you cannot top up a pre-payment meter, request emergency credit from your supplier

How to deal with priority debts

List all your debts and identify which are priority

Start by working out how much you need to repay: write down everything you need to pay for, and note how much and when you pay, plus how much you still have left.

Work out your income and essential spending

MoneyHelper's free Budget planner uses your details to give you a breakdown of your finances and personalised tips, and its Bill prioritiser helps sort out which costs to deal with first.

Contact priority creditors first

Providers must offer you a range of support options, and the sooner you talk to them the better.

Talk to your non-priority creditors

You might agree an informal arrangement: payments based on what you can afford after essential household outgoings, with a request to freeze interest and charges.

Get free debt advice

You can get free, confidential and independent advice from National Debtline on 0808 808 4000, Citizens Advice on 0800 144 8848 in England or StepChange Debt Charity on 0800 138 1111.

Talk to a debt adviser before you agree to make payments to people you owe money to. If you face a sudden emergency such as court action, bailiff action, disconnection, or eviction for mortgage or rent arrears, get free, independent debt advice urgently. Some debt management companies charge a set up fee plus a handling fee each time you make a payment, so understand the costs of a plan and how you pay for it. GOV.UK has separate pages on debt advice in Scotland and in Northern Ireland, and nidirect says Advice NI offers free, confidential and impartial advice. Our dealing with debt guide covers the solutions.

Where to go next

Frequently asked questions

A credit card company is threatening court action but I also have rent arrears, what do I do?

Rent is a priority payment: if you do not pay it you could be evicted from your home, lose your deposit, get a bad credit record and struggle to rent elsewhere. Credit card debts are not on MoneyHelper's list of priority debts. Missing them has less serious consequences, though your creditor could eventually take you to court or instruct bailiffs. If court action is already under way, get free, independent debt advice urgently.

Can council tax send bailiffs without warning?

Your council can ask a magistrate for a liability order if you owe unpaid Council Tax. It can send bailiffs to seize your property if there is no other way to recover the debt, and it will tell you how much you owe before the bailiff visits.

Is water a priority debt?

MoneyHelper's guide to prioritising debts lists water and sewerage bills as non-priority but worth weighing alongside your priority bills, while its Bill prioritiser calls a water bill a priority. Your water cannot be cut off in the same way as electricity, but your water company can take you to court to get you to pay.

Is a student loan a priority debt?

No. Student loans are not considered priority payments: you only repay if your income is above a certain threshold, and payments stop automatically if your income drops below it.

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Know Your Rights UK. "Priority Debts: Which Debts to Pay First." Know Your Rights UK, https://www.knowyourrightsuk.com/debt/priority-debts