Durham County Council (18 019 171)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr X complains about the way the Council dealt with his council tax liability. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because the matter has been remedied by the Council as it has withdrawn the Liability Order and waived the costs.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about the way the Council dealt with his council tax liability.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions a council has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered the complainant's comments and the Council's comments and Mr X has commented on the draft decision.
What I found
- Mr X’s company used an agent for dealing with council tax payments on his properties. The Council says that it sent several letters to Mr X’s agent about arrears of council tax on a property. Mr X says that his agent never received the letters. The Council obtained a Liability Order in November 2018 for non payment of council tax.
- The Council says that payments of council tax were made for the property in June, July and August 2018 but then stopped. It says that reminder letters were sent in September and October 2018 and a Liability Order obtained in November 2018.
- Nevertheless, the Council has agreed to remove the Liability Order and waive all costs relating to the order.
- Mr X has argued that the Council should also pay compensation to remedy the complaint. However, I note that the payments were made during 2018 with no explanation from the agent, or Mr X, as to why the payments had stopped (with the likelihood of legal enforcement as a consequence). Further there is a duty upon the tax payer to ensure that payments are made in full and promptly. I am not persuaded therefore that the Council should do more to remedy the complaint.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because the matter has been remedied in our view.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman