Blackburn with Darwen Council (19 009 232)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 24 Feb 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr X complains that the Council has not paid a full refund of Council tax following a backdated exemption. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
- Mr X complains that the Council has not paid a full refund of Council tax following a backdated exemption.
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 must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:
- it is unlikely we would find fault.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered the comments of the complainant and the Council and the complainant has had an opportunity to comment on the draft decision.,
What I found
- Mr X paid Council tax on a property up to July 2019. At that point the Council awarded (and backdated 6 years) an exemption based on his health. The Council calculated the refund required to be paid to him but took into account Council tax still owed on his property.
- I am satisfied that the Council has correctly revised the amount of Council tax owed and to be refunded. Some confusion arose because Mr X moved to a second property in March 2018 which, when overlapping with his previous property, meant that he had to pay Council tax on the second property for a period (as the exemption can only apply to one property at any time).
- The exemption for the first property continued until 1 June when the exemption applied to the second property. This mean that Council tax was owed in 2018 despite an exemption from Council tax (as it could only apply to one property).
- The Council has agreed to waive legal costs associated with the Council tax owed.
- I am satisfied that there is no fault in the way the Council has assessed the debt. In the absence of fault, the Ombudsman could not be critical of the Council’s final calculation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman