London Borough of Wandsworth (19 019 719)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mrs X complains that the Council failed to credit her with all her payments of council tax. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because the Council has remedied the matter to the Ombudsman’s satisfaction. Part of the complaint is out of time.
The complaint
- Mrs X complains that the Council has failed to credit her with all her payments of council tax.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions a council has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered the comments of the complainant and the Council and the complainant has commented on the draft decision.
What I found
- Mrs X says that the Council has failed to record all her payments of council tax since 2016.Part of the complaint (up to 2019) could have been made to this office within 12 months and so I consider it out of time and out of jurisdiction.
- The Council has provided a detailed list of all payments received from Mrs X and accepts that there appears to be a discrepancy between the records. It has, as a result, waived all costs and enforcement fees relating to the council tax. The Council has also asked her to provide proof of all payments.
- I am satisfied that, if the Council was at fault in their records, they have remedied the matter by waiving the costs. It is a matter for Mrs X to provide proof of the payments to resolve the matter. Without such proof I cannot say that there has been fault by the Council.
Final decision
- I do not intend to investigate this complaint because the matter has been remedied. Part of the complaint is out of time.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman