Summary: Mr B complains the Council has not paid him a full council tax refund. He says the Council will only refund him half and the other half to his former partner, even though he solely paid the tax. The Ombudsman does not find fault in how the Council processed the refund.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr B, complains the Council refused to refund a full council tax bill to him. He says he paid the full council tax contribution, but the Council did not accept evidence of this. He says the Council will only pay him half of the refund when he should receive the full amount.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
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 considered the information provided by Mr B and made enquiries of the Council. I sent a copy of my draft decision to Mr B and the Council for their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Background

5. From late 2018 Mr B lived with a partner and paid council tax from an account in their joint names. He moved out in November 2019 but direct debits for council tax continued from the account until May 2020, at which point Mr B notified the Council. The Council issued a refund for the overpayment but paid this to Mr B’s former partner’s (“Mrs C”) sole account, which was the new account registered for the property.
6. Mr B told the Council he had paid the council tax in full, so it should refund the full amount to him. He provided evidence in banks statements for the account from which he paid the Council tax. The account was in Mr B and Mrs C’s joint names. However, Mr B said he was the only one to pay money into the account and it was only in their joint names for accessibility reasons. He asked the Council to pay the refund into his sole account and provided details.
7. The Council considered the evidence Mr B provided. It recovered the money from Mrs C’s account and paid it into the joint account from which Mr B originally paid the Council tax. Mr B no longer had access to that account so complained to the Council. The money was returned from the joint bank account to the Council’s account.
8. The Council discussed the matter with Mr B. It suggested splitting the money 50-50 between Mr B and Mrs C. Mr B did not agree to this. He reiterated that he had solely paid money into the joint bank account and provided evidence of this. The Council said it could not make decisions about how couples managed their finances or split paying any expenditures. It had followed its policy and would only pay half to Mr B and half to Mrs C.

Findings

9. I do not find fault in the way the Council processed the refund.
10. There are no regulations that dictate who councils should pay refunds to in this situation, so it is for the Council to decide, in line with its own procedures.
11. The Council has provided its policy documents, which show it will normally credit any refund to the person still residing in the property, unless there is a specific request otherwise. It was therefore not fault for the Council to initially pay the money to Mrs C.
12. The Council properly considered Mr B’s request and redirected the refund into the joint account that he paid council tax from.
13. The Council has provided evidence that it properly considered all the factors involved and explained the rationale behind its decision. It says it cannot make any decisions about how couples manage their finances, for instance who pays which bills and how it is split. This is a private matter between the couple and as both names are on the account both are entitled to receive half.
14. It is not my place to question the Council’s decision to pay the refund 50-50 as there is no fault in the way it considered the issues involved and reached that decision.

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Final decision

15. The Council is not at fault in how it processed the council tax refund.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman