Summary: We will not investigate this council tax complaint and the Council’s decision not to remove some court costs. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because the costs have been confirmed in court.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, says the Council has been unreasonable and inflexible in a decision not to remove some court costs for council tax arrears.

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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)
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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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What I found

Council tax

5. The law says people must pay their council tax before the instalment date stated on the bill. If people pay late on more than two occasions, or do not pay, they lose the right to pay by instalments. The Council can then demand that they pay the full amount which is due for the rest of the year. If they do not pay the Council can serve a summons and ask the magistrates for a liability order. A liability order is a court order confirming the person must pay the council tax and costs.

What happened

6. Mr X did not pay the council tax due on 15 July and 15 August. Mr X says he was not aware that direct debit was an option and he usually paid after getting a text reminder. Mr X says the texts stopped in July.
7. The Council issued a reminder on 21 August which asked Mr X to pay £374 by 28 August. The reminder said that if he did not pay he would lose the right to pay by instalment. It also explained that if he did not then pay the full amount the Council would serve a summons. Mr X says he did not receive this reminder.
8. Mr X did not pay £374 by 28 August so the Council issued a demand for all the outstanding council tax. This was because he had lost the right to pay by instalment. The Council asked Mr X to pay £1309 by 8 September. Mr X paid £187 but as this was less than the amount due the Council served a summons and added costs of £79.50. Mr X then paid £374. This did not cover all the council tax and the court issued a liability order in November.
9. Mr X says the Council has been heavy handed and inflexible. He says an officer was rude. He says there was no need for the Council to have taken him to court because he was willing to pay and had made payments. He complained the Council had not sent a warning letter and he was suffering stress linked to COVID-19. Mr X wanted the Council to remove the court costs.
10. In response the Council apologised for the way the officer had come across and said it could not comment further as the call was not recorded. It explained it had issued a reminder and there was no requirement to prove it had been received. It said it had served the summons correctly because Mr X had missed two payments and had not paid all the outstanding council tax following the final demand. It declined to remove the court costs.

Assessment

11. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. Mr X missed two consecutive payments of £187 each. He paid £187 in September but that was not enough to make up for the missing payments and it did not comply with the terms of the reminder. The law allows a council to demand the full amount of outstanding council tax if someone does not meet the terms of a reminder. And, if someone does not pay all the council tax due in reply to the final demand, the law allows a council to serve a summons. The Council’s actions were in accordance with the council tax regulations so there is no reason to start an investigation. It is unfortunate Mr X did not receive the reminder but the Council is not responsible for problems with the post. In addition, the Council has apologised because Mr X found an officer was rude. There is no recording of the call so I cannot add to what the Council has said.
12. Mr X says the Council should have been more sympathetic because of the stress everyone is under due to the pandemic. However, Mr X has not said that he is under any more stress than anyone at the moment; for example, he has not said he was shielding, bereaved or had been seriously ill. Further, the Council relies on regular council tax payments so it can meet its financial commitments and fund services.
13. I also will not start an investigation because the court issued a liability order which confirmed Mr X must pay the outstanding council tax and costs. I have no power to intervene in a court decision which means I cannot ask the Council to remove the court costs.

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Final decision

14. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because the court confirmed the court costs.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman