London Borough of Harrow (18 016 224)

Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 03 Jul 2019

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Miss B complains the Council has not applied a disability discount to her council tax bill. Miss B complains she is now in debt and this has negatively impacted her health. The Ombudsman found fault. The injustice caused by this this fault has been remedied by the Council. Miss B could have appealed to the Valuation Tribunal about her council tax and council tax support.

The complaint

  1. Miss B complains the Council has not applied a disability discount to her council tax bill.
  2. Miss B complains she is now in debt and this has negatively impacted her health.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
  2. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
  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 considered:
    • Miss B’s complaint and the information she provided;
    • documents supplied by the Council;
    • relevant legislation and guidelines;
    • the Council’s policies and procedures; and
    • the Council and Miss B commented on a draft decision.

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What I found

Policy and legislation

  1. Council tax is a local tax levied by local authorities. The amount a resident pays in council tax is based on the resident’s property band. Properties fall into one of eight bands according to their value on 1 April 1991. Resident’s in band A pay the lowest amount of council tax, and those in band H pay the most (Local Government Finance Act 1992).
  2. Council tax appeals should first be made to the billing authority. If the appeal is not successful, there is a right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal (Local Government Finance Act 1992).
  3. The full council tax bill assumes there are two or more adults living in a home. If only one adult lives in the property, the council tax bill is reduced by 25%. The Council can disregard certain residents altogether when counting the number of adults in the household. Students and people under the age of 18 are exempt from paying council tax (Local Government Finance Act 1992).
  4. Billing, collection and recovery of unpaid council tax is governed by the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992, SI 1992/613.
  5. Councils issue demand notices annually. Councils must send the person liable for payment of council tax a reminder and a notice before taking recovery action.
  6. Recovery action is through the issue of a summons and getting a liability order through the magistrates' courts.
  7. Options for recovery include payment orders, attachment of earnings orders, seizure and sale of goods following the issue of a warrant, registered charges on property and, in extreme cases, imprisonment. Only certified bailiffs can remove a debtor's goods to recover council tax debts.
  8. Each Council has a council tax reduction scheme where council taxpayers in financial need can reduce their liability. Councils award council tax reduction from the beginning of the week following receipt of the person’s application if they are eligible for the scheme.

Harrow Council

  1. People with disabilities whose homes have been adapted for their use may be entitled to a disabled band reduction. This means their council tax will be calculated as if their property is one band lower.
  2. A resident might qualify for this if a disabled person lives in the property and the property has certain features that are essential to the disabled person because of his/her disability where:
    • the property is the disabled person's sole or main home; and
    • the person is substantially and permanently disabled.
  3. The property must have at least one of the following features:
    • a room (not a bathroom, kitchen or toilet) which is predominantly used by the disabled person where the use of the original room has changed to accommodate the disabled person;
    • a second bathroom or kitchen which has been adapted to meet their needs (a sole bathroom or kitchen even if adapted would not qualify); or
    • sufficient floor space to allow use of a wheelchair indoors.
  4. Harrow Council’s council tax reduction scheme is called council tax support. The maximum time limit for a backdated council tax support application is 3 months.

What happened

  1. This chronology includes key events in this case and does not cover everything that happened.
  2. Miss B moved to Harrow in July 2017. Miss B lives with her mother, sister and son.
  3. In August 2017, the Council sent Miss B a council tax bill for the financial year 2017/2018. The letter included information about the Valuation Tribunal and what would happen if payments were not made.
  4. In September 2017, Miss B contacted the Council about her council tax bill. The Council told her to apply for council tax support (CTS) and a disabled band reduction (DBR).
  5. In December 2017, the Council sent Miss B a reminder notice for her council tax as she had not made any payments.
  6. In January 2018, Miss B contacted the Council. She said she believed money was being taken out of her benefits to pay for her council tax. The Council told her this was not the case.
  7. The court issued a summons for Miss B for her non-payment of council tax. The Court granted a liability order for the unpaid council tax in January 2018.
  8. In February 2018, Miss B told the Council she had paid her council tax online. The Council has no record of this. The Council and Miss B arranged a payment plan.
  9. In March 2018, the Council sent Miss B a council tax bill for the financial year 2018/19. The letter included information about the Valuation Tribunal and what would happen if payments were not made.
  10. Miss B did not make the payments she had agreed to make as part of the payment plan arranged with the Council in February 2018. In April 2018, the Council passed Miss B’s debt for the financial year 2017/18 to an enforcement agency. The enforcement agency issued a notice of enforcement and asked Miss B to contact them.
  11. In April 2018, the Council sent Miss B a reminder notice about her council tax for the financial year 2018/19.
  12. Miss B made an application for a disabled band reduction in April 2018.
  13. Miss B told the enforcement agent she was a vulnerable person. The enforcement agent advised her to provide evidence of this, so they could pass her case to the welfare team.
  14. Miss B asked the Council why her 2018/19 council tax bill was so high. The Council told her it had received an application for a disability band reduction but not for council tax support. The Council told Miss B how to apply for council tax support. The Council noted Miss B may be a vulnerable person.
  15. Miss B made a complaint to the Council. Miss B complained council tax exemptions had not been applied and her debt had been passed to an enforcement agency. The Council told the enforcement agency to treat Miss B’s case sensitively and the enforcement agency put Miss B’s account on hold.
  16. In May 2018, Miss B asked the Council to recall her debt from the enforcement agent as she is a vulnerable person. The Council asked Miss B to send proof of her vulnerability and told her what to send. It also told her to apply for council tax support.
  17. Miss B made an application for council tax support and housing benefit. The Council wrote to Miss B asking for supporting evidence for the application. The Council gave Miss B a month to provide the information. The Council told Miss B it could consider her council tax support application, not her housing benefit as this was being paid by a different Council.
  18. The Council put a person alert on Miss B’s case. This alert meant the Council would review Miss B’s case before it took further enforcement action so adjustments could be made.
  19. Miss B made another complaint to the Council. Miss B complained she had already applied for council tax support and asked for her debt to be recalled from the enforcement agency. The Council explained it needed her to give it supporting evidence to grant council tax support. The Council told Miss B what evidence it needed and gave Miss B a month to provide it. The Council said it had noted Miss B’s vulnerability and passed this information on to the enforcement agency.
  20. Miss B gave the Council evidence to support her council tax support application.
  21. The Council sent Miss B a revised council tax bill for the financial years 2017/18 and 2018/19. Council tax support was applied from the week after Miss B’s application was received in May 2018. The letter included information about the Valuation Tribunal and what would happen if payments were not made.
  22. In July 2018, the Council visited Miss B to undertake an assessment for the disabled band reduction. The Council officer who visited did not tell Miss B she had to provide supporting evidence from a professional (e.g. doctor or social worker). The Council says the officer that undertook the visit would not have been aware of the other steps needed to determine Miss B’s application and these were listed in the application form.
  23. The Council sent Miss B a revised council tax bill for the financial years 2017/18 and 2018/19. The Council reduced her bill by the disabled band reduction and the council tax support; at this stage, the Council mistakenly applied the disabled band reduction without having the necessary supporting evidence. The disabled band reduction was backdated to the day Miss B moved into the property. Council tax support was applied from the week after Miss B made the application; May 2018. The letter included information about the Valuation Tribunal and what would happen if payments were not made.
  24. Miss B made a payment towards her council tax.
  25. In October 2018, the Council sent Miss B a reminder notice about her outstanding council tax for the financial year 2018/19.
  26. An enforcement agent visited Miss B to recover her council tax arrears from 2017/18. Miss B said she could not settle her debt. An enforcement fee was added to Miss B’s account. The enforcement agent told Miss B to provide evidence of her vulnerability so her case could be passed to the welfare team. Miss B says this visit caused her distress.
  27. Miss B made a payment towards her council tax.
  28. Miss B complained to the Council. Miss B said she had given the Council the evidence it needed and asked the Council to recall her debt from the enforcement agency. The Council asked the enforcement agency to put Miss B’s account on hold.
  29. The Council contacted Miss B and explained it needed evidence from a professional for her disabled band reduction and to prove her vulnerability. The Council gave Miss B 21 days to provide the evidence. The enforcement agency also wrote to Miss B to ask for evidence of her vulnerability.
  30. The Council responded to Miss B’s complaint. The Council again explained it needed evidence to support her application for a disabled band reduction. The Council told Miss B to contact the enforcement agency to arrange a payment plan. The Council also told her how much she needed to pay to avoid a summons being issued for her council tax debt for 2018/19.
  31. Miss B made a further complaint to the Council. Miss B said she was told she did not have a council tax bill to pay. She complained that it took the Council 6 months to decide her council tax band and that it had passed her debt to an enforcement agent.
  32. The Council replied and explained it could not recall her debt until she provided evidence of her vulnerability. The Council said it had sent her complaint about council tax support not being backdated to its housing department.
  33. In November 2018, the Council sent Miss B a council tax bill for the financial year 2018/19. The letter included information about how to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.
  34. Miss B provided evidence of her vulnerability and the enforcement agency returned her debt to the Council.
  35. The Council wrote to Miss B with details of her outstanding debt. The Council advised Miss B of the payments she needed to make. The Council told her it would not be able to stop recovery action again. The Council asked Miss B to provide evidence for the disabled band reduction.
  36. Miss B told the Council from September 2018 her sister was a full-time student and provided a student certificate. The Council told Miss B she would not be eligible for a single person’s discount because there was another adult in the property, her mother.
  37. In January 2019, Miss B contacted the Council and provided supporting evidence for her disabled band reduction; however, this was not what the Council needed. The Council reinstated her disabled band reduction. The Council reiterated that she would not be eligible for a single person’s discount.
  38. In February 2019, the Council sent Miss B a reminder notice about her council tax for the financial year 2018/19. The Council also asked Miss B to provide evidence for her disabled band reduction. Miss B contacted the Council and asked it to put her account on hold.
  39. In March 2019, Miss B gave the Council the evidence needed for the disabled band reduction.
  40. The Council issued Miss B with a revised Council tax bill and payment plan for the outstanding debt. The Council removed court costs from Miss B’s account.
  41. On reviewing the case, the Council advised that Miss B could apply for a carer’s discount if her mother was a full-time carer. If this was the case, Miss B’s mother and sister would be disregarded, and Miss B could apply for a single person’s discount. However, applying a singles person’s discount would reduce the council tax support Miss B received.

Analysis

  1. The Council gave Miss B information about her right to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal every time it sent her a council tax bill. It is reasonable to expect Miss B to have used her right to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal if she was unhappy with her council tax and/ or council tax reduction calculation.
  2. The Council told Miss B what would happen if she did not pay her council tax. The Council told Miss B if she did not pay, it would take recovery action, which could result in extra costs. The Council sent Miss B a bill, reminder notice and a summons before the court granted a liability order. This is the procedure the Council is required to follow.
  3. The Council applied a disabled band reduction before Miss B had given the required supporting evidence. This is fault. The Council subsequently asked Miss B for evidence, which she supplied. The Council accepted Miss B’s evidence but then decided it was not the evidence it needed. This is fault. The Council asked Miss B for further evidence, which she supplied. The Council applied the reduction from the date Miss B moved into her property and therefore the faults did not cause injustice.
  4. Miss B made an application for council tax support in May 2018. The Council applied council tax support from the week after the date it received the application. The Council chose not to backdate Miss B’s council tax support; the Council was entitled to make this decision and Miss B could have appealed to the Valuation Tribunal. Miss B says she applied before this date but there is no evidence of this.
  5. In September 2018, Miss B’s sister became a full-time student. At this point, Miss B may have become eligible for a single person’s discount as she said the other adult in the property, her mother, was a full-time carer. However, applying a single person’s discount would reduce the council tax support Miss B received and therefore may not be financial worthwhile. The Council did not provide Miss B with this information until March 2019. Although the delay was fault, provision of the information by the Council remedied any injustice.

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Final decision

  1. I have completed my investigation and uphold Miss B’s complaint. Miss B was caused an injustice by the actions of the Council. The Council has remedied this injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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