Summary: Miss B complained that the Council sent council tax demands, a court summons and a court order to the wrong address so she was unaware of the debt until she had contact from the bailiff. The Council also wrongly advised her that it could apply a discount to the bill. The Council has acknowledged it should have identified that Miss B was not living at that address and has deducted the court costs and returned the account from the bailiffs. It should also deduct £150 from the amount due in recognition of the distress it caused her and further frustration and confusion when it gave her wrong advice.

The complaint

1. Miss B complains that the Council sent demands, notices and a summons for council tax arrears to the wrong address after she had notified it of her forwarding address and was seeking to settle the account. The Council also instructed bailiffs to collect the arrears.
2. The Council has acknowledged that it should have identified her new address sooner and it has returned the account from the bailiffs and deducted the court costs and fees from the bill. Miss B complains the Council should reduce the balance further in recognition of how it has treated her.
3. Miss B also complains the Council has not awarded her a single person discount.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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)
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)
6. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered the information that the complainant and the Council provided. I considered the Ombudsman’s Guidance on Remedies. Both parties have had a draft of this statement and I invited them to comment on this, and I have taken this into account before reaching a final decision.

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What I found

8. The law sets out who should pay council tax and how a council may collect arrears of this.
9. There is a hierarchy of liability for each dwelling. Where there is a tenant, he is liable for the council tax. If the tenant moves out and the property is empty, the owner becomes liable for the council tax, even if they are living and paying council tax elsewhere.
10. Before a council can pursue someone for council tax it must usually send a bill with their name on. If the person does not pay then the council can issue a reminder and if there is no payment, the full balance for the year becomes payable. The council can then ask the magistrates court to issue a summons and there will be a hearing in court to establish the person is liable. The court can then issue a liability order. The fixed costs of the court action are added to the debt.
11. The council can then enforce the liability order using a variety of methods. A common recovery method is to instruct bailiffs to collect the debt. The bailiff can also add costs to the amount due.
12. For a document to be effective it must be served on a person by delivering it to them (in person), leaving it at their proper address or sending it by post to their proper address (taken to be the last known address). There is no need to use registered or recorded post.
13. The taxpayer can apply for a single person’s discount off the bill if she is the only liable adult at the property. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support, reduction or discount.

What happened

14. Miss B owned a property which she rented out while she lived elsewhere. The tenant was liable for council tax at that property. Miss B emailed the Council to notify it that she was seeking to sell the property and it was now vacant.
15. The Council made Miss B liable for the council tax as the property owner, using the hierarchy set out in law, but sent the bill to the empty property despite her telling the Council she was not living there. Miss B had no knowledge of the bill. She was living and paying council tax elsewhere. The tax on the empty property was not paid and so the Council sent reminders, the summons and the liability order against Miss B to that address. The debt was not paid and so the Council instructed bailiffs.
16. In the meantime, Miss B had sold the property and she telephoned the Council to give details of the new owner.
17. Miss B received two letters on the same day at her new address. One saying she owed over £700 in council tax arrears and one saying that bailiffs had been instructed and would visit her new home two days later. Miss B says this caused her distress. She is a single parent with two children and in receipt of Universal Credit due to her low income. She could not raise the amount due.
18. Miss B telephoned the Council. It said that it could apply a single person’s discount of 25% and she could pay the rest in instalments. The Council has no record of her call because its systems were faulty.
19. The Council has accepted that it should have identified her new address earlier. It apologised to Miss B. It returned the account from the bailiff and deducted the court costs and fees from the balance.
20. The Council decided it could not award Miss B a single person discount as the address was not her sole and main residence and she was not entitled to the discount. Miss B had the right to appeal to a tribunal about this decision, but the Council did not notify her of this right.
21. The Council first asked Miss B to pay the balance by instalments of £100pcm but later agreed to reduce the instalments to £25pcm.

Analysis

22. The Council has acknowledged that it was at fault. It should have identified that she was not at that address sooner. Miss B has a good record of payments, and it is likely that had the Council sent the bill to the correct address, Miss B would have dealt with this without the need for recovery action.
23. The bailiff letter came as a shock to Miss B and caused her distress, particularly as she has a low income and could not raise the sum due. She had kept the Council updated of her circumstances and understandably assumed it would let her know if she had to make payments.
24. The Council apologised, withdrew the account from the bailiffs and deducted the court costs in good time, but it then compounded its errors by giving Miss B wrong information about the single person’s discount. This added to Miss B’s confusion and frustration, and put her to more time and trouble in pursuing matters.
25. I appreciate that Miss B did not complete a formal application for the discount, but the Council should have told Miss B that she could appeal against its decision not to award it. This was further fault.
26. We would usually expect someone to use these appeal rights but as the Council did not advise Miss B of these, I have exercised discretion to investigate whether the Council correctly decided the discount. The Council’s decision was correct, and Miss B was not entitled to this. The Council’s failure to tell Miss B about her appeal rights did not impact on her as it is unlikely any appeal would have been successful.

Agreed action

27. The Council apologised to Miss B, agreed an affordable instalment plan with her, and deducted the costs of the court action from the debt.
28. The Council will also:
• deduct £150 from the council tax arrears in recognition of the distress and frustration it caused Miss B and the time and trouble it put her to; and
• share this decision with its relevant staff.
29. The Council should send me proof that it has made this adjustment and shared the decision within one month of this decision.

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Final decision

30. I have completed my investigation. There was fault by the Council causing injustice. The Council has taken some action to remedy this, but needs to take further action.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman