Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about council tax charges raised for her late mother’s property. This is because the Valuation Tribunal is set up to handle the substantive issue in this complaint. It is also unlikely the Ombudsman would add to the previous investigation by the Council and the fault has not caused a significant enough injustice to Mrs X.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council has billed her £1,400 in Council tax for her late mother’s property and then billed her mother’s partner, who I will refer to as Mr X, and is still living in the property, £900.
2. Mrs X says the Council told her that payment of the £1,400 would settle the account up to 31 March 2020.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
5. 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:

• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

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

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How I considered this complaint

6. I have considered Mrs X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information she provided. I have written to Mrs X with my draft decision and considered her response.

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What I found

7. Mrs X’s mother passed away on 11 August 2019. Mr X remained living in the property.
8. Mrs X’s mother had unpaid Council tax from the year 2018 to 2019 and up to 11 August 2019.
9. On 24 August 2019 the Council issued a bill for £1,396.66 to Mrs X to cover unpaid charges up to 11 August 2019.
10. On 29 November 2019, Mrs X settled the balance. The Council worker advised Mrs X that this settled the balance up to 31 March 2020.
11. The Council issued a bill for £905.87 to Mr X for the period 11 August 2019 to 31 March 2020.

Analysis

12. The Ombudsman cannot normally deal with complaints about liability and entitlement to exemptions. These matters are addressed by the Valuation Tribunal.
13. Mr X has a right to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to use his right of appeal if he disputes the £900 owed on his account. The Valuation Tribunal is an expert, impartial body set up to decide such matters.
14. We should not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about liability for payment of the Council tax.
15. However, we can look at the Council’s handling of this matter.
16. The Council has admitted that it made mistakes over the telephone and provided incorrect information to Mrs X. The Council has admitted that it failed to tell Mrs X that Mr X would be liable for charges from 11 August 2019 to 31 March 2020.
17. Since Mrs X and Mr X would still be liable for the same charges had this mistake not occurred this has caused insufficient personal injustice.
18. Since the Council has admitted the mistake, it is unlikely the Ombudsman could add to the previous investigation by the Council.
19. It is also not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

20. My decision is that the Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about council tax charges raised for her late mother’s property. This is because the Valuation Tribunal is set up to handle the substantive issue in this complaint. It is also unlikely the Ombudsman would add to the previous investigation by the Council and the fault has not caused a significant enough injustice to Mrs X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman