London Borough of Sutton (18 019 946)

Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 14 Aug 2019

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Mr B complains about the Council’s recovery of council tax due for a property where he was the tenant. He says he is not the liable person and the Council’s delay in taking action and providing information has meant he cannot prove his position. The Council failed to tell Mr B of his right to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. The Council will apologise for this.

The complaint

  1. Mr B complains about the Council’s recovery of council tax due for a property where he was the tenant. The liability is from 2012 to 2013. Mr B says he is not the liable person and the Council’s delay in taking action and providing information has meant he cannot prove his position.

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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. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), 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

  1. I considered the complaint and documents provided by Mr B and spoke to him. I asked the Council to comment on the complaint and provide information. I sent a draft of this statement to Mr B and the Council and considered their comments.

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What I found

Summary of what happened

  1. Mr B was the tenant of a property. This complaint concerns the liability for council tax at the property from September 2012 to July 2013. The Council issued bills and reminder notices to Mr B at the property in March and April 2013. A summons was sent in May and a liability order obtained from the court in June 2013. In July the Council passed the debt to its enforcement agents. In September 2013 the Council learnt that a new tenant moved in and Mr B had been evicted from the property by the landlords in July 2013. The Council wrote the debt off as it believed Mr B was abroad and were unable to trace him.
  2. In February 2018 Mr B contacted the Council about council tax at the property where he was living. The Council connected him with this account and recommenced action to recover the outstanding council tax from him. There was correspondence between the Council and Mr B. Mr B disputed he was liable and said he wasn’t at the property at the time and the Council should contact the landlords to find out who the occupier was. The Council passed the debt back to enforcement agents. This prompted further contact from Mr B and more correspondence with the Council.
  3. The Council has suspended recovery action while we consider this complaint.

Analysis

  1. The crux of this complaint is that Mr B considers he is not liable for council tax at the property for the period the Council is pursuing. I cannot decide that point. Where there is such a dispute the proper body to consider the matter is the Valuation Tribunal and Mr B can make an application to them.
  2. The Council has commented that its website makes clear that in this type of dispute someone can make an application to the Valuation Tribunal. It says Mr B has not provided the evidence requested to make a final decision about his liability. And it aims to resolve disputes about liability internally without escalating the matter to the Valuation Tribunal unless absolutely necessary. But in reviewing the complaint it recognises it should have referred Mr B to the Valuation Tribunal sooner.
  3. Where there is a statutory right of review or appeal it is important councils ensure people are aware of those rights. I understand this is on the Council’s website but there was considerable correspondence between Mr B and the Council and it was clear the core issue was a dispute as to liability. The fact Mr B has not provided the evidence the Council asked for does not alter that he had a right to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. The Council should have told him this as soon as it was clear that it was not going to alter its position and was going to continue to recover the debt.
  4. Mr B considered there had been delay by the Council in pursuing this which had disadvantaged him in proving his case. When the Council had reason to believe from the information from its enforcement agents and the letting agents that Mr B was the liable person it issued correspondence to the property. None of that was returned. By the time the matter was with enforcement agents Mr B had been evicted from the property and the only other contact details the Council had for him were abroad. There was no fault in the Council deciding to write off the recovery of the debt. Nor was it wrong for the Council to seek to recover the debt when it became aware of Mr B following his contact with the Council.

Agreed action

  1. The Council will, within a month of this decision, apologise to Mr B for failing to tell him of his right to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.
  2. The Council has issued written instructions to officers, along with standard paragraphs to be included in correspondence, to advise people of the right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.

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Final decision

  1. The Council failed to inform Mr B of his right to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. The Council will apologise for this.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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