Summary: There was fault by a debt collection agency when collecting a debt from Council Tax. A computer system fault mean that Mr X received two visits from bailiffs and a number of letters in error when he had kept up with an agreed payment plan. The financial remedy offered by the Council and debt collection agency is a satisfactory remedy to injustice suffered by Mr X.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall call Mr X, complains that he has received continued visits and letters from a debt collection agency even though he has been making payments agreed in a payment plan for Council Tax arrears.
2. Mr X says the Council wrote to him in April 2021 saying they were going to refer the matter back to court when he has kept up with payments to a payment agreement.
3. Mr X says he has been caused distress by the bailiffs visits. Mr X says he has also not received a clear statement of the amount of Council Tax owed and may have been charged extra fees.

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What I have investigated

4. I have investigated events from December 2018 onwards. The final section of this statement contains my reason(s) for not investigating the rest of the complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

5. 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)
6. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. 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)
7. When a council commissions another organisation to provide services on its behalf it remains responsible for those services and for the actions of the organisation providing them. So, although I found fault with the actions of the debt collection agency, I have made recommendations to the Council.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I read the papers put in by Mr X and discussed the complaint with him.
9. I considered the Council’s comments about the complaint and any supporting documents it provided.
10. Mr X 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

11. In response to my enquires the Council has explained that there has been fault by the debt collection agency, while recovering the debt for the Council. Given there has been a thorough investigation by the Council and debt collection agency I do not intend to repeat this. The Council and debt collection agency have sent statements of Mr X’s accounts which I have forwarded to him.
12. The debt collection agency outlined the following faults:
• Mr X has kept up with his payment plan but due to a computer fault the system recorded the plan was not up to date.
• Mr X received letters and two enforcement agent visits because of the computer fault.
13. The debt collection agency has apologised to Mr X. It has said that Mr X currently owes £1738 across 2 accounts. It has said it will remove the enforcement fee of £235 and offer £503 compensation against the debt. This would leave £1000 remaining for which Mr X is paying £50 per month.  
14. The Council has said that it sent a warning letter when the debt was wrongly returned from debt collection agency to the Council. The Council has said it will write off this debt of £189.
15. I have looked at all the information and consider that the remedy offered by the Council and debt collection agency is a satisfactory remedy to the injustice suffered by Mr X from the fault identified above. So, I do not propose to investigate further as it is unlikely the Ombudsman could achieve a better outcome from Mr X.

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Agreed action

16. The Council will write off £189 and confirm this in writing to Mr X within one month of the date of the decision on this complaint.
17. The Council will arrange for an apology and £738 to be removed from Mr X’s debt to the debt collection agency within one month of the date of the decision on this complaint.

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Final decision

18. I have completed my investigation of this complaint. This complaint is upheld and I consider the actions above will remedy the injustice to Mr X.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

19. I have not investigated Mr X’s complaint before December 2018. 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)
20. Mr X first complained to us in September 2020 so I have exercised discretion to investigate back until December 2018. If Mr X wished to complain about events before this, I consider it was reasonable for him to have complained at the time. Events before December 2018 are a late complaint and I have seen no good reason to accept it for investigation now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman