Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council failed to deal properly with his council tax account, sent a final reminder notice threatening court action, and refused to reply in writing to his complaint. Although the Council was at fault it has apologised appropriately to Mr X and had corrected the council tax account. We will ask the Council to ensure it provides a written reply to a complainant.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council’s council tax failed to deal efficiently with his notification that he had bought a property. The Council billed him for council tax for a period before he owned the property and ignored his communications. The Council wrongly sent a reminder notice, threatening court action, after he provided information from his solicitor about the purchase.
2. Mr X complains the Council refused to provide a written reply to his complaint or pay compensation. The Council verbally apologised but stated it was a waste of time to write. Mr X says the Council should improve its systems and pay compensation for his time and trouble.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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:

• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement,
• we are satisfied with the action the Council has taken or proposes to take.

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered Mr X’s information and comments. The Council has supplied records of the correspondence, complaint handling, and a comment.

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What I found

5. On 22 October Mr X told the Council he had bought a vacant property and tenants would move in at the weekend. The Council’s council tax bill included a demand for earlier months when he was not the owner. Mr X says he communicated with the Council four times and received four bills. On 1 December 2020, the Council sent a final demand notice warning that if the bill was not paid a summons would be issued. The Council contacted Mr X on 3 December and the next day he attached information from his solicitor providing proof of the purchase.
6. On 10 December, the Council upheld Mr X’s complaint and apologised to him by telephone. The Council did not send Mr X a written reply to his complaint recording he had ‘a verbal response to his stage 2 complaint’. The Council accepts that it delayed in dealing with the change of address information and that a reminder notice should not have been sent. The matter was resolved on 9 December. The Council says it had a backlog of work due to the covid pandemic but checks before a summons is sent. It says it has amended the wording of its demand notices to reflect the circumstances arising from the pandemic. The Council declined Mr X’s request for compensation.

Analysis

7. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint for the following reasons:
8. I do not consider investigation would add to the information held and I am satisfied the Council’s apology remedies the injustice. The Council has accepted fault in how it handled Mr X’s council tax account and information. It did not issue a summons and therefore compensation is not required.
9. I will ask the Council to ensure it provides a written reply to a complaint. This could have been done by copying the complaint closure note into an email. It is not acceptable to reply verbally especially where a complainant disagrees with the outcome. The Council did advise Mr X he could complain to this office and so he did not suffer an injustice.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council failed to deal properly with his council tax account, sent a notice threatening court action, and refused to reply in writing to his complaint. Although the Council was at fault, it has apologised appropriately to Mr X and had corrected the council tax account. We will ask the Council to provide a written reply to a complainant.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman