London Borough of Bexley (19 001 619)

Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax

Decision : Not upheld

Decision date : 07 Oct 2019

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Ms B complained about the way the Council dealt with council tax arrears and a housing benefit overpayment. We cannot find fault with the Council’s actions.

The complaint

  1. Ms B complains that the London Borough of Bexley (the Council):
    • unreasonably tried to recover council tax arrears from 2013 to 2015 without properly explaining how they arose;
    • sent correspondence to the wrong address so Ms B had no knowledge of the debts until December 2018;
    • unreasonably rejected her repayment offers and refused to deal with a debt advice agency who are advising her about her debt problems; and
    • failed to answer her queries about a housing benefit overpayment.

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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

  1. Between 2013 and 2015 Ms B was in receipt of housing benefit and council tax support. She accrued council tax arrears during this period due to numerous changes in her entitlement to support. In December 2015 it was told Ms B had left address Z on 24 November 2015. She provided no forwarding address, so the Council sent a closing bill to address Z, for arrears of approximately £1000, including summons costs of £345.
  2. In January 2016 the Council obtained a new address for her, address Y and updated its system so all correspondence from that date went to address Y.
  3. In April 2016 Ms B contacted the Council to say she had not realised the payment arrangement was on a weekly not monthly basis. She provided a work address for future correspondence. A few weeks later she informed the Council she was homeless. The Council removed the work address and in the absence of an alternative, sent all correspondence to address Z. Ms B did not make any more payments
  4. In June 2016 Ms B contacted the Council to say she had received attachment of earnings documentation.
  5. In 2018 the Council had identified an address for Ms B and referred her arrears to an enforcement agent to collect. They contacted her in December 2018 and she contacted the Council to complain.
  6. The Council responded in January 2019. It gave a full breakdown of the arrears and payments made. It updated her address, recalled the debt from the enforcement agent, removed the summons costs from the arrears and said it was willing to come to an arrangement to pay off the rest.
  7. Ms B sought help from a debt advice agency who offered £1 a month. The Council said it was unable to accept this as it would take 40 years to pay off the debt. It asked for £41 per month.
  8. Ms B then complained to the Ombudsman in May 2019. In June 2019 the Council agreed to a repayment plan of £5 a month. Ms B says she remained unhappy because of letters being sent to the wrong address. I made enquiries of the Council in July 2019. It replied saying it had agreed a payment arrangement of £5 a month starting on 1 August 2019 until 1 July 2030.

Housing benefit overpayment

  1. The Council said an overpayment arose in March 2016 when Ms B provide proof of her earnings. She had started a new job in December 2015. The Council revised the benefit award and notified her of an overpayment of around £1300. The notification provided details of the overpayment and her right of appeal.
  2. The Council has provided a copy of a complaint response it sent to Ms B in May 2016 in response to her disputing the overpayment. It explained she had a further right of appeal if she wished to dispute the decision further.

Analysis

  1. On the basis of the information provided I cannot find fault with the way the Council has dealt with either Ms B’s council tax arrears or housing benefit overpayment. The Council has provided evidence that Ms B knew about both the arrears and the overpayment in 2016 and made some payments towards the council tax arrears.
  2. There is no information about what happened in the intervening two years until the enforcement agent contacted Ms B. But there is no evidence to say that the Council should have sent the correspondence to another address or that Ms B provided alternative contact details.
  3. After Ms B contacted the Council in December 2018, it recalled the debt from the enforcement agent, removed the summons costs and said it was willing to come to an arrangement with her. It considered £1 a month was too low but has accepted £5 per month. I cannot find fault with this process.
  4. If Ms B disagreed with the overpayment, she could have appealed to the first Tier Tribunal. I am unable to consider this issue further.

Final decision

  1. I have completed my investigation into this complaint as I am unable to find fault causing injustice in the actions of the Council towards Ms B.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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