Council tax

This fact sheet is aimed chiefly at anyone who is experiencing problems with their council tax account and may be considering making a complaint to the Ombudsman.

I have a problem with my council tax. Can the Ombudsman help me?

Sometimes, yes. But there are some matters the law does not allow us to look at:

  • We cannot deal with a complaint about something that affects nearly everyone living in a council’s area, such as the level of council tax it has set. This means we cannot investigate a complaint that the council tax is too high.
  • We cannot consider complaints about what council tax band a property is in. The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) decides the banding and the VOA is not part of the Council. Neither we nor the Council can change the banding.
  • We cannot consider a council's decision to change its discount and exemption scheme, including increased charges for empty properties. The law says these decisions can only be challenged by a judicial review in the High Court.
  • We cannot normally deal with complaints about issues where you can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. These include:
    • the council tax band your property is in
    • whether you are liable for council tax
    • whether a property is your main residence or second home
    • whether you are entitled to an exemption or discount
    • whether an empty property premium applies, or
    • whether you are a student for council tax purposes.

We can consider other complaints about the way the council has dealt with your council tax.

How do I complain?

You should normally complain to the council first. Councils often have more than one stage in their complaints procedure and you will usually have to complete all stages before we will look at your complaint.

Then, if you are unhappy with the outcome, or the council is taking too long to look into the matter – we think 12 weeks is reasonable – you can complain to us.

Usually, you should complain to us within 12 months of when you first knew about the problem. If you leave it any later, we may not be able to help.

For more information on how to complain, please read our step by step process.

If you can consider my complaint what will the Ombudsman look for?

We consider whether the council has done something wrong in the way it went about dealing with your council tax account which has caused you problems. Some issues we can look at are if the council:

  • failed to give you information (such as entitlement to reductions in the tax or your right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal)
  • failed to tell you about or consider an application for a discretionary reduction in the council tax
  • failed to act on information you provided (especially where this affects your liability for council tax or your entitlement to discounts or exemptions)
  • delayed in dealing with disputes
  • made mistakes in dealing with your payments (such as failing to credit them to your account, allocating them to the wrong account, or failing to pay in council tax support you have been awarded)
  • the way a council takes action to recover historic arrears – a council may legally be able to recover historic arrears but should do so in a fair way
  • continued to take recovery action against you when it shouldn’t (such as when you have already paid off the debt, or you are keeping to an agreed arrangement to pay the debt)
  • failed to pass on important information to the enforcement agents (bailiffs); for example, information that you have made a payment to the council, or
  • delayed unreasonably in dealing withyour council tax support claim or did not give information about how you can challenge a decision that you have received too much council tax support (which increased the council tax).

We can also look at complaints about enforcement agents acting on behalf of the council, for example if they behave unreasonably or make unreasonable charges. (See our fact sheet on complaints about bailiffs).

What happens if the Ombudsman finds that the council was at fault?

We cannot decide whether you are liable to pay council tax or whether you are entitled to exemptions or discounts. But, if we find that something has gone wrong in the way the council dealt with your council tax account we can ask it to:

  • take action to put the matter right, such as correcting mistakes on council tax records and issuing the right bills and demands
  • ensure that payments you have made or council tax support awards are properly paid into your account
  • deal with your correspondence or appeal
  • withdraw a summons or enforcement agents and waive costs where appropriate, or
  • pay a financial remedy. Whether we ask for a financial remedy and the amount we recommend will depend on how you have been affected by what has gone wrong. For example if you have received any unnecessary summonses, liability orders or visits by enforcement agents because of the council’s errors. 
  • Recommend changes to prevent the problem happening again and affecting other people.

Examples of some complaints we have considered

In 2010 Mr J’s property was repossessed. He moved to another address in the council’s area and was paying his council tax there. He had arrears of council tax for his old property. The council had taken recovery action, including sending bailiffs to his new address. Mr J arranged with the council to pay the debt. The council’s records did not show any payments received since early 2013. When the payments stopped council did not take any action at the time.
In October 2019 the council wrote to Mr J about the debt, asking him to pay it. Mr J objected saying he disagreed with the amount due. He said because six years had passed he no longer had records of payments he believed he had made.
Councils have a right to collect debts owed to them. But in this case we found the council to be at fault. It had known where Mr J was all along but had not contacted him about the debt. Because of its own delay he could no longer contest the debt. The council agreed to write off the debt Mr J was disputing and review its policy on recovering historic debts.
On two occasions Mrs X tried to set up a direct debit to pay her council tax. The council acknowledged receipt but by the time it set up the direct debit enforcement action had started and the case ended up with enforcement agents. Mrs X paid the council tax and enforcement costs of £195.
We found the council had delayed setting up the direct debit and some of its communications with Mrs X were misleading.
The council agreed to repay the costs and make a payment of £100 to reflect Mrs X’s distress. The council also agreed to review some of its processes to stop the problem being repeated. 

Other sources of information

Most councils have lots of information about council tax on their own websites.

There is also information on the Valuation Office Agency’s website at www.gov.uk/government/organisations/valuation-office-agency

To check your council tax band go to: www.gov.uk/council-tax-bands

The Valuation Tribunal's website is www.valuationtribunal.gov.uk

Our fact sheets give some general information about the most common type of complaints we receive but they cannot cover every situation. If you are not sure whether we can look into your complaint, please contact us.

We provide a free, independent and impartial service. We consider complaints about the administrative actions of councils and some other authorities. We cannot question what a council has done simply because someone does not agree with it. If we find something has gone wrong, such as poor service, service failure, delay or bad advice and that a person has suffered as a result we aim to get it put right by recommending a suitable remedy.

October 2022 

LGO logogram

Review your privacy settings

Required cookies

These cookies enable the website to function properly. You can only disable these by changing your browser preferences, but this will affect how the website performs.

View required cookies

Analytical cookies

Google Analytics cookies help us improve the performance of the website by understanding how visitors use the site.
We recommend you set these 'ON'.

View analytical cookies

In using Google Analytics, we do not collect or store personal information that could identify you (for example your name or address). We do not allow Google to use or share our analytics data. Google has developed a tool to help you opt out of Google Analytics cookies.

Privacy settings