Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Council tax overpayment because there is a right of appeal to a Valuation Tribunal.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the Council’s decision to recover an overpayment of Council tax reduction and the Council’s consideration of her complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
3. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Ms X says that the Council was wrong to recover an overpayment of Council tax reduction as she made the Council aware of her changes of circumstances. She also says that the Council delayed responding to her complaint.
7. Council tax reduction (CTR, also known as council tax support) is a discount, not a benefit. It reduces the amount of council tax a person has to pay.
8. If a council gives someone too much CTR it can reduce the CTR and increase how much council tax the person owes. We call these changes ‘CTR reversals’. Sometimes a council creates reversals because it has miscalculated the CTR. It might have ignored information it had or used information it should have not used.
9. If the council’s CTR Scheme says how it deals with challenges to reversals (sometimes called ‘overpayments’) a claimant can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. If the scheme does not say how the council will deal with CTR reversals, the claimant cannot appeal.
10. Councils can decide to reduce someone’s council tax and should have a policy explaining when this happens. (S13A(1)(C) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 as amended) If somebody is struggling financially because of a decision about wrongly paid council tax reduction, they can apply for a discretionary reduction. Appeals about those decisions are to the Valuation Tribunal.
11. Ms X asked for a discretionary payment. Any dispute about the Council’s response can be appealed to a Valuation Tribunal.
12. The Council accepts some delay in the consideration of her complaint and responded by allowing further time to repay the overpayment.
13. Nevertheless, the Ombudsman considers that it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is a right of appeal to a Valuation Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman