Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council issuing council tax reminders to the complainant. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, complains the Council sent council tax reminders even though she pays her council tax before the due date and was told she would not get more reminders. Ms X wants compensation for her time and stress.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint and email correspondence between Ms X and the Council. I considered comments Ms X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Council tax

4. The law says people must pay their council tax before the instalment date listed on the bill. If the Council does not receive the payment by the due date it will issue a reminder.
5. People can pay their council tax by direct debit, phone, on-line or by cheque.

What happened

6. Ms X pays her council tax by cheque. She posts the cheque to the Council well before the due date.
7. The Council issued a reminder in May because it had not received a council tax instalment. It subsequently received the payment which Ms X had posted in advance.
8. The Council issued a reminder on 3 July because it had not received the latest due payment. Ms X was upset to receive a reminder asking for payment within seven days because she had posted a cheque in June. The Council explained it did not receive her payment until 3 July by which time the reminder had been issued. The Council explained that COVID-19 was causing postal delays which meant there were delays receiving payments. The Council cancelled the reminder and apologised for the inconvenience.
9. The Council issued a reminder in December because it had not received the payment due in November. Ms X contacted the Council to explain she had posted the cheque early in November. She said the Council was trying to bully her into paying by direct debit. She asked for compensation because the Council was failing to process the cheques she was sending on time. She said the problems was caused by Council incompetence.
10. The Council confirmed it had received the cheque for November and had supressed her account until February to avoid any more reminders being issued. It said her account was up to date. The Council apologised for the distress but said the pandemic was causing severe delays with the post which meant it was taking six to eight weeks for payments to reach council tax accounts. It said officers would monitor her account. The Council declined her request for compensation.

Assessment

11. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. Ms X can choose what payment method she wants to use. But, she is required to ensure the payment reaches the Council before the due date. Due to the pandemic her letters have been delayed which has meant that some payments have not reached her account before the due date. This is not Ms X’s fault but neither does it represent fault by the Council. Ms X does not accept there are postal delays but thinks there are delays by officers opening the envelopes and processing the cheque. But, she has not provided any evidence to support this allegation and it has been reported in the press that COVID-19 has been causing delays with the post.
12. Council tax is largely an automated process and when the system notes that a payment has not been made it automatically sends a reminder. The Council cancelled all the reminders after it received the payments and it could see that the payment was delayed in the post.
13. The Council had explained to Ms X in July that COVID-19 was causing problems. So, when Ms X received the reminder in December, she would have known that was the likely caused. And, even though the Council had said it would monitor the account to stop more reminders being issued, the fact that Ms X knew what was causing the problem (even if she disagrees with the explanation) should have reduced the stress caused by getting another reminder.
14. Ms X could, until the problems caused by the pandemic ease, choose to use a different payment method so that her payments are not dependent on the post.
15. Ms X found the reminders upsetting but they have been cancelled and she has not incurred any costs. In addition, each time the Council told her the account was up to date and she knew she did not have any arrears. Ms X has spent some time contacting the Council but, as there is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation, there are also no grounds to ask the Council to pay compensation.

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Final decision

16. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman