Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint that it is unreasonable for the Council to bill the complainant in 2020 for council tax that arose in 2017. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because the complainant could have appealed to the Valuation Tribunal.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, says it is unreasonable for the Council to bill him, in 2020, for council tax which arose in 2017.

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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’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. 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)
4. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Council tax and landlords

6. The landlord is responsible for the council tax for any period when a property is empty and does not have tenants living in it.
7. The regulations say a council should issue a bill as soon as practicable.

What happened

8. Mr X is a landlord. He rented a property to tenant A until August 2017. He rented it to a different tenant from March 2018 until September 2019.
9. In July 2020 the Council found out tenant A had left the property in August 2017. It issued a bill, in July, to Mr X for £677 from August 2017 to March 2018. Mr X complained and said it is unreasonable for the Council to charge council tax from three years ago.
10. In response the Council said it only found out in July 2020 that Mr X was liable. It explained the debt was not time barred. It invited Mr X to provide details if there was a tenant in the property from August to March. The Council said Mr X had two months to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal if he disagreed he was liable.

Assessment

11. I will not start an investigation for the following reasons.
12. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council did not know Mr X was liable for the council tax until July 2020 so it could not have issued a bill before July. It issued the bill after a few days after it became aware Mr X was liable. Mr X would have known the property was empty from August to March and could have notified the Council. If he had done this then the Council could have issued a bill to him in 2017.
13. I also will not start an investigation because Mr X could have appealed to the Valuation Tribunal if he did not think he is liable for the council tax. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to have appealed because the tribunal is the appropriate body to consider council tax disputes. The tribunal is free to use and the Council clearly explained Mr X’s appeal rights.

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Final decision

14. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because Mr X could have appealed to the Valuation Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman