Summary: Mr B complained that the Council took too long to set up his direct debit which caused him to fall behind with his council tax payments and then took a large payment without informing him. We are unable to find fault with the Council’s actions in respect of Mr B’s council tax account. There was some delay in responding to his complaint, but the Council has agreed to refund the summons’ costs once Mr B pays the arrears, which is an adequate remedy.

The complaint

1. Mr B complains that Warrington Council (the Council) was unable to change the date of his direct debit and instead required him to set up a new one. It failed to inform him when and how many payments it was going to take and took almost £300 in May 2019. It did not respond to his complaint properly, withdrew its offer to waive court costs and threatened to send bailiffs to collect the debt. Mr B was caused distress and frustration during this period

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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 have considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant, made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided. Mr B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Council tax bills and payment

5. The council tax is payable by monthly instalments, traditionally ten from April to January. Councils have discretion to decide when the instalments will be payable, but there can only be one instalment for one taxpayer in any one month. The decision on dates is made before the start of the tax year and cannot normally be changed during the year. By agreement a council and a taxpayer may make a special payment arrangement outside the normal instalment scheme.
6. Once an instalment is missed the Council can issue a reminder. If the payment is not made the Council can issue a bill for the whole amount. If a second instalment is missed the Council can repeat this process. If a third instalment is missed, the Council does not have to send a reminder but can demand the whole outstanding amount.

What happened

7. Mr B was paying his council tax by monthly direct debit payments. He telephoned the Council on 15 February 2019 to ask if he could change the date of his direct debit to the 5th of the month as he had started a new job. The Council advised him that the Council had already requested February’s instalment, due on 18 February 2019. He could cancel his direct debit and set up another to start from 5 March, but this would then take a double payment. Mr B asked to spread the payments into the next financial year, but the Council said it could not do that. Mr B said the Council wasn’t being very helpful.
8. On 18 February 2019 Mr B cancelled his direct debit, so he did not make February’s payment. The Council says it issued an amended bill.
9. On 29 March 2019 Mr B set up a new direct debit. The Council said it was too late to take a payment on 10 April 2019 (the next payment run) but arranged the payments to start on 10 May 2019. It sent two bills to Mr B on 29 March 2019 confirming that on 10 May 2019 it would take a payment of £182 (the two outstanding instalments from February and March 2019) and £102 for the first instalment of the new financial year.
10. Mr B contacted the Council on 10 May 2019 to complain that it had taken nearly £300 out of his bank account and not informed him. The Council advised that it had sent him notifications on 29 March 2019. Mr B made a formal complaint about the way the direct debit had been processed. He also cancelled the direct debit.
11. The Council replied on 31 May 2019 explaining the action it had taken in respect of his council tax payments. It noted Mr B had made an additional payment of £200 so he only owed £84.
12. Mr B disputed the Council’s version of events. He said he had telephoned the Council in February and after that changed the direct debit. He agreed he had received two or three letters but said he had not been informed that the payments would be taken on 10 May 2019. He asked what he should do to escalate his complaint. The Council did not reply. Mr B paid a further £200 on 20 August 2019
13. On 27 August 2019 the Council sent him a reminder for missed instalments in July and August. He telephoned the Council to question the letter. The Council explained that he was behind with his council tax payments. Mr B said that was due to Council errors with his direct debit payments in May and he wanted to make another complaint.
14. The Council responded to his complaint on 16 September 2019. It said he had now received a final notice for the full amount owing as he had not paid the outstanding instalments. It said in response to lengthy waits on the telephone it was introducing a new on-line portal to allow residents to make changes without needing to speak to an advisor.
15. Mr B pursued his complaint in October 2019. He said the Council had not listened to his telephone calls and he insisted his payments fell behind because the Council took too long to set up the change to his direct debit in March 2019. He said the Council’s website said residents should contact the Council by 15 April if they wanted to pay by instalments by direct debit. He said he had set up the direct debit on 29 March 2019 and so the Council should not have waited until May 2019 to take the payments. He also questioned why the Council was asking him to pay the whole amount as the council tax was not due until the end of the financial year. He chased the Council several times in November as he had not had a response. He said the whole situation arose following the call in February 2019 and the Council should listen to this.
16. The Council issued a summons and obtained a liability order in November 2019 for arrears of almost £1000.
17. On 12 November 2019 the Council replied to the complaint. It said the Council had acted correctly and was legally entitled to pursue recovery of the whole amount once instalments had been missed. It said it was not able to listen to recordings of calls. Mr B complained again raising similar points.
18. The Council responded on 2 December 2019 apologising for the delay in dealing with his complaint but maintaining the Council had acted correctly in terms of the direct debit payments: there had been insufficient time to arrange a payment for 10 April 2019 so it had taken a payment the following month, on 10 May 2019. It had notified Mr B of this arrangement on 29 March 2019. It offered to consider removing the court costs if Mr B contacted the Council in the next two weeks to make a payment arrangement.
19. On 12 December 2019 it sent a letter to Mr B warning him that if no payments were made it would refer the debt to an enforcement agent to collect.
20. Mr B contacted the Council on 17 December 2019 offering to pay £100 before the end of December and then monthly payments of £200. The Council replied on 20 December 2019 accepting the arrangement but did not agree to remove the summons costs. Mr B responded straightaway querying the refusal. He paid £100 on 31 December 2019.
21. In early January 2020 the Council confirmed the payment arrangement would start at the end of January 2020 with a payment of £100 followed by four instalments of £200. Mr B contacted the Council to say this was not what he had offered. He would keep to this but would not pay the new bill from April as he could not afford to pay two bills concurrently. He paid £98.88 on 31 January 2020.
22. The Council confirmed the arrangement on 21 January 2020 and apologised for the change to the agreement. It said it would remove the summons costs once the payments were completed and had deferred payment of the new bill until June 2020.
23. Mr B complained to the Ombudsman as he considered the whole situation had arisen because the Council could not change the date of his direct debit. He made a further payment of £200 on 1 March 2020 but nothing since then. The Council says £600 remains outstanding.

Analysis

24. I cannot find fault with the way the Council dealt with Mr B’s request to change his direct debit payments. He contacted the Council in February 2019, three days before the next payment was due to request a change in the date of his direct debit. This was too late for the Council to make any changes for February. It correctly advised him to set up a direct debit for 5 March 2019 and pay two instalments.
25. But Mr B did not set up a new direct debit until 29 March 2019, so he had now missed two payments and was too late for the payments to be taken in April 2019. The Council addressed this by starting the payments for the new bill on 10 May 2019 with the ten instalments running until March 2020 and arranging to take the arrears on the same date. It sent Mr B bills informing him of these payments. Mr B says he was not aware of this but does say he received two or three letters. The Council has sent copies of the bills which clearly show the payment dates at the bottom. I cannot find fault here.
26. Further arrears built up because Mr B did not pay the instalments as notified after 24 May 2019. The Council informed him of this on 31 May 2019 and again in August 2019. Mr B made one payment in August and then nothing until December 2019, so the Council was entitled to pursue him for the whole amount and correctly obtained a liability order in November 2019.
27. Mr B made a new payment arrangement in January 2020 but has not made the payments as agreed. The Council has agreed to refund the summons costs once the payments are completed. I cannot find fault with this approach.
28. In respect of his complaints, the Council should have responded to Mr B’s email in May 2019 asking what he should do to escalate his complaint. However, the failure to respond did not mean Mr B was entitled to cease payment of his council tax. He did not pursue the matter until he received a further reminder and only made one further payment.
29. The Council responded to Mr B’s further complaints in September, November and December 2019. It agreed to refund the summons costs once the arrears were paid and deferred the instalments for 2020/21 so he did not have to make payments for two bills at the same time. I cannot find fault with its actions.

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Final decision

30. I have completed my investigation into this complaint as I am unable to find fault causing injustice in the actions of the Council towards Mr B.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman