Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with the complainant’s council tax account. This is because it is unlikely he will find fault or that an investigation would add to the Council’s response.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss X, has complained about how the Council has dealt with the council tax account for a property she jointly owned with her ex-husband, Mr Y.

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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
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered Miss X’s complaint and the Council’s response. I invited Miss X to comment on a draft of this decision and have considered the comments she has made in response.

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What I found

Council tax

4. Councils have a duty to collect council tax payments. The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 set out the way councils can collect and recover debt. The regulations say that before a council can pursue council tax it must send a demand to a person’s last known address. If people jointly own a property, they will be jointly and severally liable. This means they are each responsible for paying the whole charge.
5. In circumstances where a house is in multiple occupation, the owners of the property will always be liable for the council tax, even if they are not living there.

What happened

6. Miss X jointly owned a property with Mr Y which they rented out. In 2015, Miss X moved out of the home she shared with Mr Y. Miss X says she could not return to the property due to domestic violence. There was also a restraining order in place.
7. In 2019, Mr Y gave the Council Miss X’s details as he had been declared bankrupt. The Council passed the details to an enforcement agency. In October 2019, an enforcement agent contacted Miss X to recover the outstanding council tax debt for the property she and Mr Y owned. Miss X had been unaware that the council tax had not been paid and said she did not receive any of the letters the Council sent to her old address. Miss X gave the Council additional information to show that tenants had lived in the property for the period the council tax debt was incurred. The Council reduced the debt as the long-term empty premium it had charged did not apply. However, it said as the property was a house in multiple occupation Miss X was still liable for the council tax.
8. Miss X has complained about how the Council dealt with the matter. She says she was unaware of the debt until October 2019 and the Council should have contacted her to discuss the outstanding amount before passing the debt to bailiffs for recovery. She also argues that she should be given the same opportunity as Mr Y to agree a payment plan. Miss X says this has caused her considerable distress.
9. In response to Miss X’s complaint, the Council agreed it should have contacted her before passing her details to the enforcement agency as it was likely she was unaware of the debt. It apologised and recalled the debt from the enforcement agency. It also removed the fees incurred as a result of the recovery process and offered Miss X a repayment plan for the outstanding amount.

Assessment

10. I will not investigate this complaint about how the Council has pursued council tax. This is because it is unlikely the Ombudsman would find fault by the Council or that an investigation by the Ombudsman could add to the Council’s response.
11. Miss X is jointly and severally liable for the council tax debt. Therefore, it is unlikely I could say it was fault for the Council to pursue her for payment. I understand that Miss X did not receive the council tax bills sent to her old address, but the Council must send bills to the liable person’s last known address. Miss X has argued that the Council should have been aware of her new address. However, even if it could be shown that the Council could have contacted Miss X about the debt sooner, I cannot say she has been caused any significant injustice. The Council has recalled the debt from the bailiffs and removed the additional fees added. It has also offered Miss X a payment plan and apologised for not contacting her before passing her details to the enforcement agency. This seems like a suitable remedy and it is unlikely an investigation by the Ombudsman could add to this or achieve any more for Miss X.

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Final decision

12. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely he would find fault by the Council or that an investigation by the Ombudsman could add to the Council’s response.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman