Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about the way the Council dealt with his council tax accounts. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault by the Council and recommend removal of the compliance and enforcement fees.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr B, complained about the way the Council dealt with his council tax accounts.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
4. 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 or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered the information Mr B and the Council provided and given him an opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

6. This complaint is about council tax for two properties occupied by Mr B which I will call property 1 and property 2. Mr B told us, while he was living in property 1, he did not receive letters so he did not know he should be paying council tax. Once he started working, the Council reduced his council tax support so the amount of council tax payable increased. Mr B told us he tried to contact the council tax support service but could not get through.
7. In its final response to Mr B’s complaint the Council said it had issued a council tax bill and a reminder to Mr B while he was living at property 1. But it did not receive payments from him. The Council added summons costs to the bill after the issue of the summons. The Council said it had issued another bill after Mr B’s council tax support decreased. The Council said it referred the debt to its enforcement agents in November 2018 because Mr B had not paid the amount due.
8. The restriction in paragraph 3 above means we cannot consider any Council actions from the issuing of the summons (the start of court action) to the end of the court hearing.
9. Councils have a duty to collect council tax payments. The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 set out the way councils can collect and recover debt. The regulations say that before a council can pursue council tax it must send a demand to a person’s last known address. There is no requirement on the Council to check the council tax payer has received the demand. It was not fault for the Council to try to recover the debt if Mr B had not paid the amounts due.
10. Mr B had to pay council tax for both property 1 and property 2 which has made his situation more complicated. Mr B complained the Council referred his case to its enforcement agents when he was trying to pay the amounts due. He said he had been paying the agreed amount each month and in November 2018 the Council had told him his bill was paid. Mr B did not agree to pay the charges the Council had added to his account. He told the Council about the problems he had with the delivery of his post. But the Council went ahead with referring the debt for property 2 to its enforcement agents.
11. In July 2019 the Council agreed to recall the debt for property 2 from its enforcement agents and to remove the compliance fee from Mr B’s account. Mr B told us he continued to make the agreed payments but the enforcement agents subsequently contacted him telling him there was still an outstanding amount to pay. When the Council responded to Mr B’s complaint it said it had set up a new payment arrangement with Mr B in August 2019. It then referred the account to its enforcement agents again when Mr B made payments which were lower than the amount in the new payment arrangement. The Council also added the compliance fee to his account.
12. Mr B told us he feels it is Council delays, fault in its communication and its incorrect information which has led to his current situation so he should not have to pay the recovery action fees. It is not possible for us to establish exactly what was said in telephone conversations between Mr B and council officers. The Council is not responsible for the postal delivery problems Mr B has reported. We would not criticise a council for proceeding with recovery action when council tax due has not been received. For these reasons it is unlikely we would find fault by the Council and recommend removal of the compliance and enforcement fees.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault by the Council and recommend removal of the compliance and enforcement fees.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman