Summary: On the evidence currently available, we will not investigate this complaint about the Council pursuing Miss X for unpaid council tax. This is because the complaint is late. We will not exercise discretion to investigate because Miss X could have complained sooner. There is also insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the Council pursuing her for unpaid council tax for a property which she moved out of in 2016. She was a full-time student during this time. Miss X says the Council did not consider the evidence she provided to support her case and was harassed by the enforcement agency. Miss X paid the enforcement agency fees which she would like refunded to her.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information Miss X provided with her complaint. I also considered the information the Council provided. Miss X had the opportunity to comment on the draft version of this decision. I considered any comments received by Miss X before making a final decision.

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What I found

5. Miss X received a council tax bill for the period July 2017 and December 2017. Miss X said she vacated this property in September 2016. Miss X did not inform the Council of her address during her time as a student and did not make the Council aware she had vacated the property. Miss X says she made the University aware of her place of residency. The Council stated that the University does not have a duty to inform the Council of students changing address.
6. The Council was aware that the property was occupied by students until mid-June 2017 and applied the required exemption. The Council was not aware of the date of vacation when the bills had been issued.
7. The Council used a tracing agent to locate Miss X at her new address. At this time, no extra fees had been added onto Miss X’s bill. Fees are only added onto the bill when a person does not respond to a traced bill.
8. In mid-October 2018, the Council issued council tax bills to Miss X, prompting her to pay or make contact if she disagreed. The Council received no response therefore, it passed the account to the enforcement agency mid-December 2018 and instructed it to collect the debt. The enforcement agency sent a 14-day courtesy letter to Miss X. At this stage, no fees had been incurred from the enforcement agency.
9. Miss X contacted the enforcement agency six days later and explained she was unable to make the full payment however she would contact them the following day to set up a payment arrangement.
10. The enforcement agency did not receive further communication from Miss X therefore, issued a compliance notice and visited Miss X in mid-February 2019, for which she incurred fees.
11. Towards the end of February 2019, Miss X e-mailed the Council the communication she had sent to the property agent in May 2017 informing the agent that she would be moving out of the property at the end of her contract in mid-June 2017. After receiving this, the Council was able to close Miss X’s account.

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Analysis

12. Miss X was aware of the issues she complains of for more than 12 months before she contacted us. There are no good reasons why the late complaint rule should not apply. It is reasonable to expect Miss X to have complained to us sooner.
13. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council issued Miss X council tax bills at her new address in October 2018. She did not contact the Council to dispute the council tax bills. She was given the opportunity to resolve matters. Miss X had eventually provided evidence to the Council that she had moved address therefore was not liable to pay however, this was too late and enforcement action had already taken place.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate this complaint because the complaint is late. We will not exercise discretion to investigate because Miss X could have complained sooner and there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman