Summary: Mr X complained the Council sent him council tax bills for different amounts and incorrectly sent him a court summons, which caused him stress. The Council was not at fault in how it recovered council tax from Mr X.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council changed his monthly council tax instalments which led to him being incorrectly summoned to court.
2. Mr X said this caused him stress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We cannot investigate something that affects all or most of the people in a council’s area. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(7), as amended)
4. 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)
5. 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

6. I have spoken with Mr X and discussed his view of the complaint.
7. I made enquiries of the Council and considered the information it provided.
   This included email correspondence shared between Mr X and the Council and Mr X’s council tax bills.
8. I have written to Mr X and the Council and considered their comments before I made a final decision.

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What I found

9. Council tax is payable by monthly instalments. Councils have discretion to decide when the instalments will be payable. The council decides on the dates before the start of the tax year and they cannot be changed during the year. By agreement, a council and a taxpayer may make a special payment arrangement outside the normal instalment scheme.
10. The right to pay by instalments is lost once a complainant fails to pay a scheduled instalment.
11. To use the various powers available to it to recover unpaid council tax, the council has to apply to the Magistrates Court for a liability order against the person or persons it believes should have paid the bill. The council is entitled to recover the court costs from the person liable for the council tax.
12. Once the council has obtained a Liability Order it can begin legal recovery action.

What happened

13. Mr X moved into the Council’s area in January 2018. In February 2018, the Council sent Mr X a council tax bill for the period 5 January 2018 to 31 March 2018 for £122.06.
14. In March 2018, Mr X received a council tax bill for the period 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019. The bill stated he should make one payment of £124.16 on 3 April 2018, then nine payments of £125 between 3 May 2018 and 3 January 2019.
    Mr X said he made the payments.
15. However, Mr X said the Council sent him a final notice on 31 July 2018, requesting the remaining council tax balance (£810) for the period 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019.
16. Mr X said he contacted the Council and set up an instalment plan to make an initial payment of £115 on 3 October 2018, then five payments of £112 between 3 November 2018 and 3 March 2019.
17. Mr X said he made the agreed payments however, the Council sent him a court summons on 24 August 2018 for £893.50 for council tax between 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019 and £83.50 administration costs. Mr X said the Council then sent him a request for £41 on 14 January 2019.
18. Mr X complained to the Council because he believed the payment requests the Council had sent him were incorrect.
19. The Council did not uphold Mr X’s complaint and told Mr X it had sent him reminders because he had missed agreed instalment payments.
    The Council said it had then cancelled Mr X’s instalment plan and requested the overdue council tax balance for that year in a lump sum. When Mr X had not made the payments, it had applied to the courts which issued a summons for the remaining balance.
20. Mr X did not agree with this and made a further complaint to the Council.
    The Council responded at Stage 2 of its process, advising that it had provided a copy of Mr X’s annual statement for his previous address. The Council did not uphold Mr X’s complaint.
21. Mr X then complained to us.

My findings

22. Based on the council tax bills Mr X has provided, between 26 February 2018 and 31 July 2018 he should have paid £671.22 in council tax. This amount included a brought forward balance of £122.06 from the 2017/2018 tax year. Mr X’s payment history shows he paid £561.22 during this time. The records also show Mr X did not make his payments on the agreed dates; he regularly made payments that were less than the requested amount and up to four weeks late.
23. When Mr X failed to pay his council tax on the agreed date, the Council sent Mr X a payment reminder on 19 June 2018, informing him his account was in arrears.
    I have not seen evidence that Mr X responded to this reminder. Therefore, the Council was entitled to issue a final notice for the full £810 balance for tax year 2018/2019 on 31 August 2018. There was no fault in the Council’s actions.
24. Mr X agreed on 9 September 2018 to pay the remaining balance for the tax year 2018/2019 in instalments starting with a payment of £115 on 3 October 2018.
    By 14 January 2019, Mr X should have paid £451. However, Mr X had paid £410. Again, the Council sent Mr X a payment arrangement reminder notice on 14 January 2019. As he did not make the agreed payments, the Council was entitled to cancel Mr X’s instalment plan and request the outstanding balance in full on 27 January 2019. The Council was also entitled to apply to the courts for a liability order to recover the amount owed by Mr X. There was no fault in the Council’s actions.
25. Mr X has also complained the Council has increased his monthly instalment payments. Having reviewed the statements Mr X has received, I note the council tax annual amount increased from £1,249 for the 2018/2019 tax year to £1,323 for the 2019/2020 tax year.
26. The setting of council tax is something that we cannot investigate. This is because the law says we cannot investigate something that affects all or most of the people in a council’s area. However, even if I did investigate, it is unlikely I would find fault. This is because the Council is entitled to adjust annual council tax as it sees fit.

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Final decision

27. There was no fault in the Council’s actions. Therefore, I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman