London Borough of Redbridge (18 018 463)

Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 11 Jul 2019

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Ms B complained about the way the Council dealt with an old council tax debt and its refusal to consider its discretionary powers to reduce the debt on hardship grounds. While we do not find fault with the way the Council sought to recover the debt, we do find fault with its failure to consider its discretionary powers at an earlier point. The Council has reduced the debt to zero and agreed to pay Ms B £100.

The complaint

  1. Ms B complains that the London Borough of Redbridge (the Council) was unreasonably pursuing recovery of council tax arrears for a period in 2015 when she was made homeless due to domestic abuse and was not living in the property.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. 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)
  2. 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 have considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant, made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided. I have written to Ms B and the Council with my draft decision and considered their comments.

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What I found

Council tax reduction

  1. Council tax reduction replaced council tax benefit in 2013 and is intended to reduce council tax bills for people on low incomes. Councils can develop their own schemes and criteria.
  2. Councils also have a discretionary power to reduce council tax bills under section 13A(1)(c) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. We consider councils should have a procedure to inform people how to apply for this.
  3. The Council’s website provides details of a ‘Hardship Fund’. It says customers experiencing financial hardship can apply to this fund for help with paying their council tax.

What happened

  1. In February 2015 Ms B became jointly liable for the council tax with her then partner. In April 2015, after assaulting Ms B, her partner moved out of the property and was prevented by the police from returning. Ms B’s name was not on the tenancy agreement and the landlord would not grant the tenancy to her. She was not eligible to join the Council’s housing register as she had lived in the borough for less than six months. She applied to her previous council as homeless and it said it would accept her, but she had to stay in that property until she was evicted.
  2. She applied for council tax reduction in July 2015 and the Council awarded this from 13 July 2015. She did not ask for backdating but explained her personal circumstances.
  3. She was evicted in August 2015. She contacted the Council to ask for her council tax bill to be recalculated as she had been living there alone and was on jobseeker’s allowance. She asked the Council to send correspondence to a friend’s address but confirmed she was not liable for council tax there.
  4. The Council sent her a final bill in September 2015 for the remaining council tax (£332) between April and August 2015. It also included court costs of £126.
  5. The Council sent a bill, a reminder, a 14-day notice and a summons to the correspondence address in 2016.
  6. In December 2018 the Council carried out a tracing exercise on old debts and identified a forwarding address for Ms B. It sent another 14-day notice to her for the outstanding amount. Ms B sent several emails querying the debt and asking why she had not been awarded any council tax reduction given that she had been in receipt of benefits. She also questioned why the Council had sent correspondence to her friend’s address. After seeking advice, she also requested the Council use its statutory powers to reduce her bill, given her difficult circumstances.
  7. The Council replied, saying she had provided the correspondence address and that she had not applied for council tax reduction for the period prior to July 2015. She complained to the Ombudsman in March 2019.
  8. In response to my enquiries the Council has withdrawn the court costs, backdated council tax reduction for the maximum period of one month and awarded a hardship payment. This has reduced the balance to zero.

Analysis

  1. I cannot identify any fault with the way the Council dealt with Ms B’s council tax initially. It acted on the information Ms B provided including the address. Ms B did not pay and did not provide an alternative forwarding address. Once it identified a forwarding address in December 2018 it was entitled to recommence recovery action.
  2. But at this point I consider the Council should have informed Ms B about the hardship fund and invited her to apply. She had to seek advice on this discretionary power and did not receive a specific response to her request. I am pleased the Council has now used its discretionary powers to reduce the bill to zero, but I consider it should have done this when Ms B requested it in February 2019.

Agreed action

  1. I consider the Council has taken appropriate action to resolve Ms B’s complaint. But its failure to do so at an earlier point has caused Ms B time and trouble in pursuing the complaint with us and distress at the outstanding debt. So, I asked the Council to:
    • pay Ms B £100;
    • remind staff of the existence of the Hardship Fund and when to consider using it; and,
    • consider developing a procedure for dealing with Hardship Fund applications, detailing eligibility criteria and any right of appeal.
  2. The Council says it has a procedure and it will remind staff about when to use it. It has agreed to pay Ms B £100 on provision of her bank details. I would ask it to do this within a month of receiving the details.

Final decision

  1. I consider this is a reasonable and fair way of resolving the complaint and I have completed my investigation on this basis.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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