Watford Borough Council (20 010 248)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 24 Feb 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Ms X complains about the way the Council dealt with her council tax account. We will not investigate this complaint because this is a matter for the Valuation Tribunal.
The complaint
- Ms X complains about the way the Council dealt with her council tax account.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered the comments of the complainant and the Council and the complainant was given an opportunity to comment on the draft decision.
What I found
- Ms X has a daughter who became 18 years old in May 2018. Ms X notified the Council in June 2019 that her daughter became 19 in May 2019. The Council accepts that they did not stop her Single Occupancy Discount at that point which meant that her council tax bill was lower than it should have been.
- The Council eventually stopped the discount in February 2020 and issued an increased council tax bill for £1157 (as it had been backdated to May 2018).
- The Council accepted their error and allowed her to repay the sum over a longer period.
- The Valuation Tribunal advises that an appeal can be made to a Valuation Tribunal if a Council refuses to waive recovery of an “overpaid” sum of council tax. Therefore, if Ms X asks the Council to waive the recovery of this sum she can appeal against any decision to refuse, to a Valuation Tribunal.
- The tribunal is an expert body and their decisions are binding on the Council. I see no reason why an appeal could not be made in this case.
Final decision
- I do not intend to investigate this complaint because there will be a right of appeal to a Valuation Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman