Summary: Mr X complains about an additional fee of £235 added to his council tax debt during the enforcement process. We have found fault in the actions of the Council. The Council has agreed to apologise, remove the enforcement fee and make service improvements.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about an additional fee of £235 added to his council tax debt during the enforcement process. Mr X said this has caused him distress and time and trouble in pursuing his complaint.

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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’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I spoke to Mr X and considered the information he provided. I made enquiries of the Council and considered its comments and the documents it provided.
5. I sent Mr X and the Council a copy of my draft decision and invited their comments. I considered the comments I received before reaching a final decision.

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What I found

6. The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations cover both the way councils collect payments of council tax and the way councils can recover council tax debt.
7. The council tax bill for the year is due on the 1 April. A Council will usually collect payment through ten monthly instalments. If any instalment is missed the Council will send a reminder to the resident. If a payment is still not made or a further payment missed, then the entire outstanding balance will be due (i.e. the full amount for the rest of the year).
8. To use the various powers available to it to recover unpaid council tax, a Council has to apply to the Magistrates Court for a liability order against the person or persons it believes should have paid the bill.
9. Once a Council has obtained a liability order it can begin legal recovery action. A liability order obtained through a Magistrates Court is not the same as a County Court judgement and so is unlikely to affect a person’s credit rating score. 
10. Recovery action can take many different forms. Councils will often use bailiffs to recover debt. The law sets out the fees a bailiff can charge when recovering debt and the three stages they must follow:
• The Compliance Stage - a bailiff must issue a notice of enforcement seven clear days before they take control of the goods. The fee for this stage is £75.
• The Enforcement Stage - this stage starts once a bailiff has made a first visit. At this visit they can take control of goods. Once they have secured goods they must give the debtor a notice. The fee for this stage is £235. If outstanding debts are more than £1500, bailiffs can charge a further 7.5% on the amount outstanding over £1500.
• The Sale or Disposal Stage - this stage starts once a bailiff has taken control of goods. The fee for this stage is £110.

What happened

Background

11. Enforcement agents wear bodycams when carrying out visits for the purpose of capturing video and audio evidence. In accordance with policy, enforcement agents “should only commence filming after the agent has established, they are talking to the debtor”. The debtor is the person responsible for the paying the debt.
12. The enforcement agent is responsible for uploading written notes of the visit to an electronic system. The system records the Global Positioning System (GPS) location for where the notes were uploaded.

Case 1

13. In November 2019, Mr X received a letter from the enforcement agents advising that his unpaid council tax had been passed to it for collection. The letter advised Mr X that a £75 charge had been added to the debt and told him he should arrange to make payment to avoid a visit from one if its bailiffs and additional charges.
14. The Council says that on 27 January 2020 an enforcement agent visited Mr X’s property but there was no answer at the door. An enforcement fee of £241 was added to Mr X’s account in regard to the visit. Mr X disputed this visit took place. The enforcement agents agreed to remove the fee because the GPS location of the agent at the date and time of the visit had failed to upload on its system. Therefore, no supporting evidence was available to show the visit had taken place.
15. On 2 March 2020 the enforcement agents sent Mr X a text message advising that an enforcement agent was due to visit and that Mr X should contact him on his mobile to prevent removal of goods. A further text message was sent on 6 March 2020 advising that a visit was due the following day between 06:30 and 20:00 hours. Mr X contacted the enforcement agents office and was advised to contact the agent directly.
16. On the same day Mr X made a payment which covered all the outstanding council tax debt at the time. The Council has confirmed that at that point, no further charges were applied to this case.
17. On 17 July 2020 the enforcement agents issued a refund for the enforcement fee.

Case 2

18. In December 2019, the enforcement agents wrote to Mr X again as the Council has referred a second debt to it for collection a further. A further £75 was added to the total amount outstanding.
19. The Council says that on 3 March 2020 the enforcement agents visited Mr X’s property but there was no answer at the door. An enforcement fee of £235 was added to Mr X’s account in regard to the visit. Mr X disputed this visit took place.
20. In response to Mr X’s complaint the enforcement agents said the GPS location was recorded for where the enforcement agent uploaded his notes. It said the GPS coordinates showed the agent was in the area of Mr X’s address at the time and date the visit was recorded as taking place. The agents said the enforcement fee had been correctly applied.
21. Mr X asked the Ombudsman to investigate his complaint about the enforcement fee applied to case 2.

Analysis

22. When a council commissions another organisation to provide services on its behalf it remains responsible for those service and for the actions of the organisation providing them.
23. The GPS evidence of the enforcement agent being in the area of Mr X’s address does not prove that the visit took place. The evidence shows the agent was in the area, but this does not conclusively show the agent visited Mr X’s home as claimed. The Council accepts this. I therefore consider the removal of the enforcement fee of £235 is an appropriate remedy for distress in the form of uncertainty caused to Mr X.
24. I have also noted the communication send by the enforcement agent to Mr X by text message. The messages do not state the case reference to which they apply. Mr X explained that he thought the messages related to case 2 and the message sent on 3 March 2020 confirmed a visit for 7 March 2020. I consider this caused unnecessary confusion and uncertainty for Mr X.
25. I do not consider any separate injustice arises from this fault to that which I have identified above. But I consider there may be a wider lesson the Council can learn here, which I explain further below.

Agreed action

26. Although I have found fault with the actions of the enforcement agents, they are acting on behalf of the Council. The Council has agreed to my recommendations.
27. Within one month of my final decision the Council will:
1. apologise to Mr X; and
2. remove the enforcement fee of £235 applied to case 2.
28. To learn wider lessons from this complaint, within three months of my final decision the Council will:
1. complete a review of the procedure(s) and system(s) in place following an enforcement visit where there was no contact with the debtor; and
2. complete a review of the procedure followed for communicating with debtors that have multiple debts.

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Final decision

29. I have found fault in the actions of the Council causing an injustice to Mr X. I have completed my investigation on this basis.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman