Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to stop enforcement action for Council tax arrears while it issued her an amended bill, which resulted in avoidable enforcement fees. The Council was not at fault. It dealt with Mrs X’s case and the bailiffs applied the fees in line with the law.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about court costs and enforcement fees relating to Council tax arrears. Mrs X said the Council failed to place her account on hold with enforcement agents while it issued her an amended bill. As a result, Mrs X said enforcement agents visited her before the Council had issued the new bill, which resulted in the fees. Mrs X said the matter has caused her distress and wants the Council to remove both the enforcement fees and the court costs.

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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’. 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)
3. 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

4. I considered Mrs X’s complaint correspondence.
5. I considered information provided by the Council.
6. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered comments before I made a final decision.

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What I found

Council Tax

7. The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations cover both the way councils collect payments of council tax and the way councils can recover council tax debt.
8. The council tax bill for the year is due on the 1st April. The Council will usually collect payment through ten monthly instalments. If any instalment is missed the Council will send a reminder to the resident. If a payment is still not made or a further payment missed, then the entire outstanding balance will be due (i.e. the full amount for the rest of the year).
9. 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.
10. Once the Council has obtained a liability order it can begin legal recovery action. A liability order obtained through a Magistrates Court is not the same as a County Court judgement and so is unlikely to affect a person’s credit rating score. 
11. Recovery action can take many different forms. The Council may instruct bailiffs to recover the debt by arranging payments, or goods can be seized and sold to pay off the debt. In rare cases where a person has ‘wilfully refused’ to pay their council tax bill the Council can apply to have someone committed to prison.

Enforcement Agents (Bailiffs)

12. Councils will often use bailiffs to recover debt. The law sets out the fees a bailiff can charge when recovering debt and the three stages they must follow:
• The Compliance Stage - a bailiff must issue a notice of enforcement seven clear days before they take control of the goods. The fee for this stage is £75.
• The Enforcement Stage - this stage starts once a bailiff has made a first visit. At this visit they can take control of goods. Once they have secured goods they must give the debtor a notice. The fee for this stage is £235. If outstanding debts are more than £1500, bailiffs can charge a further 7.5% of the amount outstanding over £1500.
• The Sale or Disposal Stage - this stage starts once a bailiff has taken control of goods. The fee for this stage is £110.

What happened

13. In August 2019 the Magistrates’ Court granted liability orders against Mrs X for Council tax arrears for the years 2018/19 and 2019/20. The Council instructed bailiffs to collect the debt in September 2019 which totalled £2085.54.
14. The bailiffs wrote to Mrs X in September 2019 at the compliance stage to notify her of the liability orders and outstanding debt and to contact it to arrange payment. Mrs X contacted the enforcement agents and said she disputed the amount. She told the bailiffs she had made payments already against the outstanding amount. The bailiffs told Mrs X to contact the Council but told her it would continue recovery of the debt unless told otherwise by the Council.
15. Mrs X contacted the Council about the matter. Following this the Council confirmed to Mrs X that it had adjusted the liability against the arrears for the year 2019/20 and said it had asked the bailiffs to return the liability order. It told Mrs X that she still had outstanding arrears for the year 2018/19 which now amounted to £350.57. This amount included the court costs and the bailiff’s compliance fee.
16. The bailiffs wrote to Mrs X at the start of October 2019 and confirmed it had returned the liability for the year 2019/20 to the Council. It confirmed to Mrs X that she now owed £350.57 and to contact it and arrange payment.
17. Mrs X contacted the Council in October 2019 and asked it for a breakdown of the charges for the year 2018/19. Mrs X said the property was empty for part of the year between February and March. Mrs X asked the Council to update its records and send her a new bill. Mrs X offered to pay £10 per month against the debt.
18. The bailiffs wrote to Mrs X and said it could not accept £10 per month. The bailiffs said it would accept £70 per month and asked Mrs X to make the first payment by 27 October. The bailiffs said if Mrs X did not make a payment it would progress the case to the enforcement stage. The Council sent Mrs X an updated bill which she received on 31 October 2019. Records show this reduced the liability to £69.16 plus fees.
19. An enforcement agent visited Mrs X on 1 November 2019 as she had made no payment against the account. This resulted in a £235 enforcement fee. Mrs X made a payment of £69.16 against the arrears.
20. Mrs X complained to the Council. Mrs X said she had not made a payment by 27 October in line with the bailiff’s instructions because she was waiting for the Council to send her a correct bill. Mrs X complained that an enforcement visited her an applied a £235 fee, but she had only received the new bill the previous day on 31 October. Mrs X said she had made a payment of £69.16 but wanted the court costs and the bailiff’s fees removed.
21. The Council responded to Mrs X’s complaint at stage 1 a few days later. The Council said it was not its policy to suspend recovery action whilst it made liability enquiries. The Council said therefore it would not cancel the outstanding costs. It told Mrs X the outstanding balance was £402.50 and told her to contact the bailiffs to arrange payment of it.
22. Mrs X was unhappy with the Council’s response and asked to escalate it to stage 2. Mrs X said she did not make payment because the Council had not yet sent the correct bill. The Council responded and reiterated what it said at stage 1.
23. Mrs X remained unhappy and complained to the Ombudsman.
24. The Council wrote to us in March 2020. It said the bailiffs had retuned the case to the Council as it had exhausted all options to recover the fees from Mrs X. Therefore, it had cancelled its outstanding compliance and enforcement fees. The Council said as a gesture of goodwill it had decided to cancel the £92.50 court fee which brought Mrs X’s account to zero. The Council confirmed it was no longer seeking to recover any further costs from Mrs X.

My findings

25. Mrs X had Council tax arrears for the year 2018/19. The Council made her aware of this by writing to her about the debt and then informing her of the liability order in August 2019. Mrs X did not contact the Council therefore it sent the case to the bailiffs. The Council was not at fault for sending the case to the bailiffs.
26. Following the compliance letter Mrs X contact the Council and informed it that the property in question was empty for a short period of time and asked for a new bill. There was no obligation for the Council to suspend recovery action while it investigated this matter. It was also Mrs X’s responsibility to tell the Council the property was empty at the time. Regardless of this, there was still an outstanding amount owed following the adjustment. The records show the bailiffs told Mrs X to make a payment by 27 October otherwise it would move the case to the enforcement stage. There is no evidence she did. Therefore, there is no fault in the bailiffs moving the case to the enforcement stage and adding a £235 fee.
27. The Council have confirmed it is no longer seeking to recover any further costs from Mrs X and both it and the bailiffs have cancelled the fees. However, on the evidence seen, the Council processed Mrs X’s Council tax arrears and the bailiffs applied the fees in line with the law. There was no fault in the Council’s actions.

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Final decision

28. I have completed my investigation. The Council was not at fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman