Summary: The Ombudsman finds the Council was at fault when considering Mr X’s council tax support claim in 2018. It then did not deal with Mr X’s claim properly in 2019 causing delay and time and trouble. The Council has agreed the remedy we recommended.

The complaint

1. The complainant whom I shall refer to as Mr X, complains the Council unfairly created an overpayment of council tax support. He says he gave the Council all the information and evidence it required but it made many mistakes and is seeking recovery of two years council tax, causing hardship. It stated it would write off an overpayment of £609 but then changed its mind.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), 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

4. I have discussed the complaint with the complainant and considered the complaint and the copy correspondence provided by the complainant. I have made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided. I have also considered the complainant’s comments on my draft decision.

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What I found

Council tax support claim in 2018

5. Mr X claimed council tax support in March 2018. The Council asked for further information. The Council then said in May 2018 that Mr X had not provided the required evidence and therefore he was not entitled. The Council eventually assessed Mr X’s claim in July 2018. It advised Mr X that he was now in credit and it refunded £200.
6. It appears that there was fault in the Council’s handling of Mr X’s claim because it insisted that Mr X completed a self employed application form when this was not necessary. It said that his profit and loss accounts were not sufficient when the Council should have accepted these once it had clarified some expenses. The Council asked for further information several times when it should have asked for all the necessary information at the same time.
7. I consider this delay was fault and caused time and trouble for Mr X. In my view the Council should have assessed the claim by the end of April 2018 so there was an avoidable delay assessment of around 10-12 weeks.

Council tax support claim in 2019

8. The Council reviewed Mr X’s claim in April 2019. It recognised it had not taken account of tax credits from March 2018 despite Mr X declaring he received these. This meant Mr X was not entitled to council tax support from March 2018. The Council sent Mr X a bill for £2900. It asked him to pay this over 10 months.
9. The Council carried out several revisions of Mr X’s income from self employment which caused confusion and could have been avoided. The Council also
• Treated wages to staff as Mr X and his wife’s drawings (income) from the business.
• Ignored information he had provided in April 2018 regarding wages and sundry expenses.
• Failed to take account of pension contributions despite having this information.
10. In June 2019 the Council said that it would recommend a write off a council tax support overpayment of £609. It then revised the assessment again and paid further entitlement during the period of the overpayment. This reduced the overpayment of £609 to £34. The Council said Mr X now had £1463 to pay in instalments of £177 per month. This was to cover two years of council tax from 2018 to 2020. Mr X says this caused him financial hardship.
11. In October 2019 the Council agreed to pay a discretionary council tax hardship payment to reduce Mr X’s council tax for 2019/20 due to his financial circumstances. This significantly reduced his payments.
12. Mr X says the Council should still write off the full £609 overpayment that it had recommended and refund this to him. He says he was caused time and trouble and anxiety due to the Council mishandling of his claim and that it was unfair to expect him to pay for two years council tax due to the Council’s mistakes.

Analysis

13. The Council’s delays and errors caused Mr X time and trouble and distress. I have recommended a remedy for this. However, I do not consider the Council should write off £609 as originally planned as this would mean the Council would in effect be paying Mr X twice.

Agreed action

14. I recommended that within one month of my decision the Council
• apologises to Mr X for the faults I have identified
• pays £200 to Mr X for his time and trouble and the anxiety this caused.

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Final decision

15. The Council was at fault and it has agreed to my recommendation for a remedy. I have completed my investigation and closed the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman