London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (17 013 583)

Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax support

Decision : Not upheld

Decision date : 09 Apr 2019

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Mr X complained the Council ignored his claim for council tax support and as a result he has been overcharged. The Council was not at fault.

The complaint

  1. Mr X complained the Council:
      1. ignored his claim for council tax support and, as a result, overcharged him; and
      2. changed the council tax account number on the property twice following the death of his father and then his mother. Mr X says the Council did that so it would not have to repay an overpayment of council tax made by his father between 2010 and his death in 2015.
  2. Mr X says that he has been left with council tax debts he does not owe and cannot afford to pay.

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What I have investigated

  1. I have investigated complaint 1a). I have not investigated complaint 1 b) for reasons I explain at the end of this decision statement.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
  2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
  3. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I spoke to Mr X and considered the information he provided.
  2. I made enquiries of the Council and considered the information it provided. This included details of Mr X’s council tax arrears and the supporting evidence Mr X provided to the Council in support of his council tax support application.
  3. I gave the Council and Mr X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

  1. Until their deaths, Mr X lived with his parents. He remains in the family home.
  2. When Mr X’s father died in 2015, the Council changed the council tax account reference on the family home. The Council changed it a second time when Mr X’s mother died in 2016. At this point, there were no outstanding council tax arrears.
  3. Following his parents’ deaths Mr X became solely liable for the property’s council tax. He made some payments. However, by March 2017, he owed £320.
  4. The Council says it wrote to Mr X in February and July 2017, inviting him to apply for council tax support.
  5. In August 2017 Mr X says he completed a council tax support application form online via the Council’s website. The Council says its records show Mr X started an application but did not complete it.
  6. Later in August, Mr X brought supporting evidence for his application into the Council customer service centre. This evidence included:
    • his passport
    • carer’s allowance, NHS dental and Security Industry Association licence letters; and
    • an online declaration.
  7. In October 2017, the Council wrote to Mr X and said it had not received an application form for council tax support. It asked him to complete one and said it would take no further action in relation to the documents he had submitted in August to the Customer Service Centre until Mr X submitted a completed form.
  8. The Council says it did not hear again from Mr X until February 2018 when he made a Stage 1 complaint about his council tax account. In this letter he told the Council he was unhappy because he felt his father should have been awarded council tax support. Mr X wanted the Council to apply the council tax support his father would have been entitled to if he had applied for it and use this to reduce the amount of council tax he owed.
  9. Mr X also said the Council had changed the reference number on the council tax account twice, the first time after the death of his father and the second time after the death of his mother. He said this was to prevent it having to pay him the money it would have owed his father if he had applied for council tax support.
  10. The Council responded later in February 2018. It said that whilst Mr X’s father may have been eligible for council tax support, he had never claimed it, so no award was due on that council tax account. It reminded Mr X he must complete an application form if he wanted to be considered for support and said he currently owed the Council £1,580 in council tax arrears.
  11. Mr X remained unhappy and complained again to the Council. Following its response, which did not uphold his complaint, he complained to the Ombudsman.
  12. In June 2018, Mr X completed a valid application form. The Council awarded him council tax support from the date of his application.
  13. In its response to my enquiries the Council said that Mr X had not returned his review form for a council tax single person’s discount. As a good will gesture and to help him with his council tax arrears, it has awarded him this for 2018/19. This had had the effect of reducing the amount he owes the Council to £900.

My findings

  1. Mr X says he completed a valid application form online in August 2017. The Council says the form was incomplete. The fact it sent him a letter in
    October 2017 asking him to submit a valid application form supports the Council’s version of events. There was no fault in the Council’s actions.
  2. Mr X failed to take any further action to submit a valid application form until
    June 2018. He is now receiving council tax support. With no valid application form, the Council was under no duty to begin his support earlier. There is no fault in the Council’s actions.

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Final decision

  1. There was no fault in the Council’s actions. Therefore, I have completed my investigation.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

  1. I have not considered the complaint in paragraph 1b) for the following reasons:
    • the events Mr X complain about happened over 12 months ago. It was open to Mr X or his father to complain to the Ombudsman at that time if they were unhappy and there are no good reasons why they did not;
    • any overpayment of council tax would have been owed to Mr X’s father who is now dead. Therefore, Mr X did not suffer an injustice;
    • Mr X’s father could have appealed any decisions by the Council about his council tax liability or overpayments to a Tribunal if he had wished to do so; and
    • even if I did investigate, it is unlikely I would find fault. This is because Mr X told me his father did not make a claim for council tax support during the years 2010 to 2015. The Council has confirmed this.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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