Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about liability for council tax. This is because the complainant had the right to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal Service and he has also not been caused any significant injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, has complained that the Council has charged him for council tax when someone else was living in the property. He has also raised concerns about how the Council handles his personal data.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

3. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered Mr X’s complaint and the correspondence from the Council. I invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision and have considered the comments received in response.

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What I found

5. Councils have a duty to collect council tax payments. The council tax year starts on 1 April and a person is charged for occupation on a daily basis. If someone disputes that they are liable for council tax they have a right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal Service.

What happened

6. In July 2018, Mr X’s former tenant contacted the Council to say they had moved out of the property. The Council closed the former tenant’s council tax account and set up a new account for Mr X.
7. In August 2018, Mr X sent the Council a copy of the tenancy agreement which showed the tenant actually moved out on 16 August 2018. The Council amended its records to show Mr X was liable from that date until the new tenant moved into the property on 23 August 2018 and sent him a council tax bill.
8. Mr X disagrees with the amount the Council has charged him. He argues that he should not be liable for the day the tenant moved out of the property (16 August) as the property was not empty for the entire day. The Council says it has charged Mr X in line with council tax legislation. It says council tax is charged on a daily basis and the calculation is based on the situation at the end of the day. It says that if a person moves into or takes ownership of a property part way through a day, they will be liable to pay council tax for the entire day.

Assessment

9. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about his liability for council tax. This is because Mr X had the right to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal Service if he did not agree he was liable for council tax. I see no reason why an appeal could not have been made and the Ombudsman will not normally investigate matters where someone had the right to appeal to a tribunal. Mr X says that the Council did not tell him he could appeal to the Valuation Tribunal Service. However, even if the Council did not make Mr X’s appeal rights clear, the Ombudsman will still not investigate as Mr X has not been caused any significant injustice. Mr X says he should not be liable for council tax on the day his tenant left the property. But the amount in dispute is relatively low and the injustice claimed is not significant enough to warrant the Ombudsman’s involvement.
10. Mr X has also complained that the Council sent him information about third parties, and he is therefore concerned about how the Council manages his personal data. The Ombudsman will also not investigate this issue. Mr X can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if he is concerned about how the Council handles personal data as this is the appropriate body to consider complaints about these matters.
11. Mr X has also complained about the Council’s complaint handling. However, where the Ombudsman has decided not to investigate the substantive issues complained about, we will not usually use public resources to consider more minor issues such as complaint handling. Mr X’s main complaint is about his liability for council tax, not how the Council handled his complaint.

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Final decision

12. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because Mr X had the right to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal about his liability for council tax and has not been caused any significant injustice. The Ombudsman will also not investigate Mr X’s concerns about how the Council manages his personal data as there is another body better placed to deal with complaints about this matter.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman