London Borough of Barnet (19 020 065)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr X complains that the Council failed to record his council tax payments correctly. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because the matter has been remedied by the Council.
The complaint
- Mr X complains that the Council failed to record his council tax payments correctly.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
- We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), 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
- Mr X set up a direct debit for council tax payments on a new property he rented in December 2017. The Council accepts it erred when setting up the account by recording the wrong address.
- The Council has now added the unpaid council tax liability to his new account (and his payments) but says that the new payments have been reduced to reflect the possible hardship caused by the error. The Council says that £443 was underpaid and could be paid off in instalments of £73 per month.
- Mr X says that this is unreasonable. However, Mr X would have been liable for this amount had the account been set up correctly; his injustice is the budgeting of the outstanding payments. The Council has also apologised for their error.
- I am satisfied that the Council’s adjustment of the new payments and apology is sufficient to remedy the matter.
- I note that Mr X appealed against a decision relating to his liability. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this matter for the reason given above.
Final decision
- I do not intend to investigate this complaint because the matter has been remedied.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman