Summary: Miss T complains the Council was pursuing her for a council tax debt she had already cleared. The Ombudsman has discontinued our investigation, as the Council has made a discretionary payment that has cleared the arrears.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss T, complains the Council was pursuing her for council tax debt she had already cleared.

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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’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. As part of the investigation, I have considered the complaint and the documents provided by Miss T. I have made enquiries of the Council and considered its response. I have sent Miss T and the Council a copy of my draft decision and invited their comments.

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What I found

4. Council tax is a tax made on domestic properties. Councils issue one bill to each household. Residents of dwellings, including tenants, are usually liable for council tax from the date they moved into the property. If a household has more than one adult who is a joint tenant, they are all jointly liable for payment of council tax.
5. Where a sum of council tax is unpaid the Council may seek an order from the magistrates’ court known as a liability order. This confirms the amount owed and who is liable to pay it. When a liability order has been made, the Council has several options available to pursue the debt. One option is to instruct enforcement agents.

What happened

6. The Council notes Miss T has been jointly billed and liable for council tax at her current address since 2008. She has been making payments, but in the past, these have been irregular. She has had arrears over several years’ bills.
7. Miss T’s complaint is about a debt from the 2012/13 tax year. The Council had passed the bill to its enforcement agents in that year. Miss T believed she had paid the agents the full amount owed.
8. The Council says in 2018 it reviewed Miss T’s account and realised it had wrongly assigned payments meant for other years to the 2012/13 account. When it transferred those payments, this left a debt remaining on the 2012/13 account.
9. The Council says it provided Miss T arrangements to pay that debt. But those arrangements failed. So, in February 2019, it passed the account to its enforcement agents.
10. Miss T complained about the enforcement of the debt. In response to my enquiries, the Council noted Miss T was now paying her current year’s bill by direct debit. It also listed arrears owing from three other years, including the 2012/13 account. Two of those debts were with its enforcement agents.
11. The Council says it recognised Miss T’s uncertainty, particularly with the 2012/13 arrears. So, to move the matter on, its Council Tax Service had recalled from the enforcement agents the two accounts with them and refunded Miss T the fees she had paid. One of those accounts was the 2012/13 arrears. It had awarded Miss T discretionary payments to cover the debts on the two years recalled from the agents. It noted it did not mean the amounts were not payable, but it had cleared them in recognition that Miss T had been trying to bring her account up-to-date.

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Final decision

12. I have discontinued my investigation, as the Council’s actions have resolved the issues under complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman