Summary: Ms X complained the Council failed to properly apply an empty property exemption correctly when tenants moved out of her rental property, which led to enforcement action and associated fees. Most of Ms X’s complaints are late and in addition, she could have complained to the Valuation Tribunal about the empty property exemption. In the period I have considered, the Council was not at fault in how it handled Ms X’s council tax accounts.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council:
1. failed to apply the empty property exemption correctly when tenants moved out of her rental property in 2017; and
2. mishandled her council tax accounts relating to the rental property from April 2017 leading to enforcement action and associated fees.
2. Ms X says this has caused her unnecessary distress. She wants the Council to reimburse her and pay her compensation for the distress it has caused her.

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What I have investigated

3. I have investigated complaint 1b) from October 2019. This is one year from the date Ms X complained to the Ombudsman.
4. I explain why I have not investigated earlier events and complaint 1a) in paragraphs 5 - 10.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

5. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction. This includes empty property exemptions.
6. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
7. 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)
8. The events Mrs X complained of happened between 2017 and 2019. Ms X says she did not become aware of these matters until she moved into the rental property in 2019. She says she did not receive any communications from the Council at any point before then. She says that as a result, she was also unable to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal because by then it was too late.
9. I have spoken to the Council. It has confirmed the address to which it sent correspondence between 2017 and 2019. This was to the address where Ms X told me she was living during this time. It also sent her a text message in June 2017 asking her to contact the Council because the council tax account was in arrears. It has confirmed the mobile number to which it sent the text and this is the number Ms X provided the Ombudsman. The Council confirmed it has records to show it spoke to Ms X by telephone during 2018 and 2019.
10. Therefore, I can see no good reason why Ms X did not appeal to the Valuation Tribunal and complain to the Council and then to us earlier. As a result I will not exercise my discretion and I will only consider events from October 2019. This is 12 months from the date she complained to the Ombudsman.
11. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
12. 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

13. I spoke to Ms X and considered her view of her complaint.
14. I spoke to a Council officer and made enquiries. I considered the information it provided.
15. I wrote to Ms X and the Council with my draft decision and considered their comments before I made my final decision.

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What I found

The law and Council policy

16. Councils have discretion over the levels of council tax discount they can apply to empty properties.
17. Many councils offer no discounts for empty properties while others offer a short period of exemption followed by a discount or full liability for council tax.
18. From April 2017 to April 2019, the Council offered a 100% discount for a maximum of 2 months for unoccupied properties. From April 2019, the Council removed all discounts for unoccupied properties.
19. Exemptions for an uninhabitable or unoccupied and unfurnished dwelling apply to the property and not the owner.
20. Appeals against not awarding a discount or exemption are first made to the council, then to the Valuation Tribunal.
21. 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 those it believes are liable. Once a council has obtained a liability order it can take recovery action. This includes using enforcement agents to recover the debt.
22. The Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014 sets out the fees enforcement agents can charge when recovering a debt.

What happened

23. Mrs X owns a rental property. The tenants moved out in 2017, two months before the end of their tenancy. The Council applied an empty property discount to the council tax account. It later billed Mrs X for council tax owing after the date the tenants left, sent reminders and later a summons. When she did not pay the debt it obtained a liability order from court and, later in 2017, passed the debt to bailiffs for collection.
24. In February 2018 Mrs X contacted the Council asking why she had not received the empty property discount. The Council told her that in accordance with the law, it had applied the discount to the previous tenants’ account from the date they left.
25. Mrs X rented her property to new tenants. In 2019 they moved out and Mrs X moved into the property later in 2019. The Council applied a single person discount to the council tax account. But it did not apply an empty property discount for the period it was empty as it no longer gave such discounts.
26. The Council billed Mrs X for the property’s council tax once she moved in. It sent her reminders and later a summons and, when she did not pay, it obtained another liability order. Later in 2019 the Council passed the debt again to bailiffs for collection.
27. In October 2019 Mrs X complained to the Council. In its first complaint response, the Council explained:

• how Mrs X’s council tax debt had arisen and when;
• what action it had taken before sending the debt to bailiffs;
• what fees the bailiffs had applied to Mrs X’s council tax account;
• what action it had taken regarding the single person discount; and
• why it did not give a second empty property discount.

28. In December 2019 the Council responded to Mrs X’s further complaint about the matter. It advised her she could bring her complaint to us. She did so in October 2020 after bailiffs continued to pursue her for an outstanding debt.
29. Ms X says she contacted the Council in October 2020 and an officer told her that her council tax account was in credit because she had continued to pay council tax on it by direct debit, event though tenants had moved into the property in August 2020. Ms X says that despite this, the Enforcement Agency continues to pursue her for the debt.

My findings

30. I will not look at Ms X’s complaints relating to the empty property exemption or what happened before October 2019 for the reasons in paragraphs 5 – 10 of this decision statement.
31. Ms X says the enforcement agency continues to pursue her for debts when she has paid off her council tax arrears. Ms X says she is in credit with her council tax account.
32. Once the Council passed the account to the enforcement agency for recovery, it was entitled to charge fees in line with the recovery action taken. Although Ms X’s council tax account is now in credit, she still owes the enforcement agency fees. These are payable to the agency and not the Council. Ms X should contact the enforcement agency to arrange how she will pay these. The fact she is in credit with the Council does not negate the need to do so. There was no fault in the Council’s actions.

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Final decision

33. There was no fault in the Council’s actions. Therefore, I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman