Summary: The Council is at fault as it did not issue a second reminder to Mr X when he stopped paying his Council Tax. But this did not cause significant injustice to Mr X. The Council is not at fault for not recalling Mr X’s account from the enforcement agent when he made a Council Tax payment. Mr X did not pay the full amount due so the enforcement agent is not at fault in visiting Mr X after he made the payment.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that the Council:
1. Failed to send a reminder notifying him that he had Council Tax arrears before sending a final notice and summons;
2. Failed to provide a breakdown of his payments to allow him to check what payments he had made;
3. Failed to recall his debt from the enforcement agents when he paid the outstanding Council Tax arrears.

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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:
• Considered the complaint and the information provided by Mr X;
• Discussed the issues with Mr X;
• Made enquiries of the Council and considered the information provided;
• Invited Mr X and the Council to comment on the draft decision.

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What I found

5. The recovery of Council Tax is governed by the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992. In accordance with regulation 23, if a council tax payer fails to pay an instalment the council will issue a reminder asking the person to pay the instalment within seven days of the notice. If the instalment is not paid a council can issue a final notice demanding the remaining Council Tax for the year to be paid and the payer can no longer pay by instalments. If payment is still not made then the council can issue a summons to appear at a Magistrates court where a liability order may be granted. Once a liability order is granted the council can pass the account to enforcement agents to collect.
6. The council can add the costs of the summons and liability order to the account. The enforcement agents can also add their fees to the account. The level of fees is set by law and includes a £75 compliance fee and £235 enforcement fee.
7. If after receiving a first reminder the Council Tax payer brings their account up to date then the council will not take any further action. However, if a person fails to pay another instalment on time the council should issue a second reminder. If the person makes the payment then no further action is taken. If the person fails to pay the instalment within seven days then the council can issue a final notice requiring the remaining Council Tax to be paid. If this is not paid the council can issue a summons, liability order and pass the account to enforcement agents to collect.
8. The Council’s website provides information on how it will recover outstanding Council Tax. It states a final notice is normally sent if a person has had a first and second reminder, got their account up to date and then fallen behind again. It also states that the Council will issue a summons if the account is not paid in full after the final notice.
9. The Council’s collection policy provides that the Council can enter a pre- summons agreement in the event a person has missed an instalment and cannot bring their account up to date. when a Council Tax payer fails to pay an instalment. The Council will seek a summons if the person does not pay in accordance with the arrangement. This is a local arrangement.

What happened

10. The Council issued an annual Council Tax bill to Mr X in March 2017 for 2017/18. The bill states Mr X should pay one instalment of £91.28 by 21 April and nine further instalments of £92 by the 21st of each subsequent month.
11. The Council’s records show Mr X paid £91.28 on 21 April but he did not pay the instalment due for May. So the Council issued a reminder on 31 May requesting Mr X to pay the instalment within seven days. The Council has said Mr X entered into a pre- summons arrangement on 6 June. Mr X disputes he entered into a pre- summons arrangement.
12. Mr X paid May’s instalment on 21 June. He then paid June’s instalment on 30 June. He continued to pay £92 on a monthly basis until October. Mr X has said he did not make further payments after October as he thought he had paid full amount due for the year.
13. The Council’s records show that in March 2018 the Council issued a final demand requiring Mr X to pay £276 which was remaining Council Tax due for the year. The Council has provided a copy of the final notice. The Council did not issue a second reminder before issuing the final demand. In response to my enquiries the Council has said this was because it had already issued a reminder in May 2017 and it had entered into a pre-summons arrangement with Mr X during a telephone call. Mr X disputes he entered into a pre-summons arrangement. He has said an officer told him it did not issue the second reminder due to an administrative error. The Council does not have a record of the telephone call.
14. Mr X did not make a payment so the Council issued a summons. Mr X did not make any payments so the Council obtained a liability order. Mr X has said he did not receive the final notice and only received the summons and notice of liability order. Mr X said he tried to telephone the Council to ask for a breakdown showing what payments he had made but he could not get through.
15. The Council issued a notice of liability order to Mr X. The notice explained that Mr X could complete the arrangement to pay section on the notice offering to make a repayment arrangement and return it to the Council within 14 days. The notice also advises the account will be passed to enforcement agents if Mr X did not pay the full amount or return the arrangement to pay within 14 days. Mr X’s arrears amounted to £367 as the Council added the summons and liability order costs.
16. Mr X has provided a copy of a letter which he sent to the Council after he received the notice of liability order. In this letter Mr X requested a breakdown of the payments he had made. Mr X also said he would not be paying the costs as he had not received a reminder. The Council has said it did not receive any requests from Mr X for a breakdown of his payments.
17. On 3 July the Council passed Mr X’s account to enforcement agents to collect as he had not paid. The enforcement agent sent an enforcement notice to Mr X. The Council has provided a copy of this notice which shows Mr X owed £442 including the enforcement agent’s compliance fee of £75.
18. Mr X made a payment of £276 to the Council. In response to my enquiries the Council has said that it did not recall Mr X’s account from the enforcement agents as he had not paid its costs of £91 or the enforcement agent’s fees.
19. The enforcement agent’s records an agent sent a text message to Mr X stating he had not responded to the important letter sent regarding his account. It also sent the same message the next day. The enforcement agent did not explain to Mr X that he had not paid the full amount outstanding so recovery action would continue. Mr X did not respond. The enforcement agents visited Mr X so charged the enforcement fee of £235.
20. Mr X made a complaint to the Council that he had not received any reminders and the Council issued the final notice and liability order too soon. In its response to Mr X’s complaint the Council said it did not recall his account from the enforcement agents as he made his payment after the account was passed to them. This is a different explanation to that provided in response to my enquiries.
21. Mr X paid the account in full. He then made a complaint to the Ombudsman.

My assessment

22. The Council did not issue a second reminder to Mr X before issuing the final notice as it had issued a reminder in May 2017. But Mr X had brought his account up to date and paid his instalments after the first reminder so the Council should have issued a second reminder. The Council has said it was not required to do so as it entered into a pre-summons arrangement with Mr X and it referred me to regulation 23. But this does not persuade me that the Council can dispense with a second reminder if a person has entered a pre -summons arrangement. Mr X had brought his account up to date and paid the instalments due until he stopped paying in November. The Council’s pre-summons arrangement is a local arrangement and cannot supersede Council Tax legislation. So, the Council’s failure to issue a second reminder is fault. The Council should review its recovery procedures to ensure the Council sends second reminders in accordance with Council Tax legislation.
23. Mr X has said he did not enter into a pre-summons arrangement. The Council does not have a record of the call with Mr X during which it says the pre-summons arrangement was made so it cannot evidence it entered into a pre-summons arrangement. This is fault. The Council should ensure it keeps proper records of its key contact with Council Tax payers including telephone calls.
24. I do not consider the Council’s failure to issue a second reminder caused significant injustice to Mr X. I set out my reasons below.
25. Mr X has said he did not receive the final notice. The Council’s records show it issued the final notice and it has provided a copy of the notice. So, on balance, I am satisfied the Council issued the final notice to give Mr X the opportunity to pay the outstanding Council Tax without additional fees. I do not know why Mr X did not receive the final notice but this was not due to fault by the Council. The Council sent the final notice some months after Mr X stopped paying but this delay was of no consequence to Mr X. The Council would have followed the same recovery process even if it had sent the final notice sooner.
26. Mr X has said he would have paid the outstanding Council Tax if he had received a second reminder as he had brought his account up to date after the first reminder. But Mr X did not pay the outstanding Council Tax when he received the summons and notice of liability order. Mr X only made a payment when the enforcement agents sent an enforcement notice. As I state above, I am satisfied, on balance, the Council issued the final notice. So Mr X would have always incurred the costs of the summons, liability order and enforcement agent’s fees.
27. Mr X has said that he would have paid the arrears if the Council had provided a breakdown of the payment made for 2017/18. I do not know if the Council received Mr X’s letter requesting a breakdown. But Mr X sent this letter after receiving the liability order so he had already incurred the summons and liability order costs. Mr X also indicates in his letter that he would not pay the costs. Councils will generally continue recovery action if a full debt is not paid. So, on balance, Mr X’s refusal to pay costs would have caused the Council to pass Mr X’s account to the enforcement agents. Furthermore, the Council Tax bill issued to Mr X in March 2017 clearly set out the number of instalments Mr X should make and by what date. So Mr X would have been aware of what payments he needed to make and that he had not paid the full amount due when he stopped paying in November 2017. I am therefore satisfied the Council’s failure to issue a second reminder did not cause significant injustice to Mr X.
28. The enforcement notice issued to Mr X in July clearly set out the amount he needed to pay. So Mr X would have been aware he needed to pay £422 not £276 to end the enforcement agent’s recovery action. It would have been better for the enforcement agent’s text messages to clearly state that he still needed to pay a further £146 rather than just asking him to contact it about its letter. But, on balance, this does not amount to fault as the enforcement agent was not required to contact Mr X further before visiting. And Mr X would have been aware he had not paid the entire debt as he received the enforcement notice.
29. The Council’s response to Mr X’s complaint did not accurately explain why Mr X’s account was not recalled from the enforcement agent after he made the payment of £276. It should have explained Mr X had not paid the full amount due so the account could not be recalled. This is fault. But, as stated above, Mr X would have been aware he had not paid the full amount due so the inaccurate explanation did not cause significant injustice to Mr X.

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Final decision

30. The Council is at fault as it did not issue a second reminder to Mr X when he stopped paying his Council Tax. But this did not cause significant injustice to Mr X. The Council is not at fault for not recalling Mr X’s account from the enforcement agent when he made a Council Tax payment. Mr X did not pay the full amount due so the enforcement agent is not at fault in visiting Mr X after he made the payment. I have therefore completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman