West Lancashire Borough Council (23 017 080)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 27 Feb 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council tax bills because an appeal was made to the Valuation Tribunal.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about advice given by the Council relating to a Council tax bill.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
- The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X says that he received a misleading Council tax bill when he applied for probate on a property. He understood that no Council tax would be payable on the property. However, he then received a Council tax bill for a later period. He says that the Council failed to properly explain the reason for this.
- I note that the Council has apologised for the failure to provide a full explanation of the situations where Council tax might still be payable following probate. It has also explained the basis of the bill which was issued.
- Mr X appealed to a Valuation Tribunal. Whilst the Valuation Tribunal might not have been able to deal with all the issues Mr X wished to raise, the Ombudsman cannot investigate a complaint which has been the subject of an appeal to a Valuation Tribunal.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he appealed to a Valuation Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman