Summary: Mr X complained the Council wrongly took enforcement action against him for a council tax debt he had already paid. The Council was at fault. It failed to consider payments Mr X had already made and failed to return the account from enforcement agents once it was cleared. The Council has agreed to pay Mr X £400 to recognise the distress, frustration and time and trouble this caused and to carry out an internal review.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council wrongly took enforcement action against him for unpaid council tax dating back to 2015 which he had already paid. Mr X complained:
• The Council obtained a liability order for the debt and passed it to enforcement agents even though he made regular payments against the outstanding amount.
• The Council failed to notify him about the liability order.
• The Council failed to recall his case from the enforcement agents after he had paid the full balance which resulted in him receiving a notice for enforcement.

2. Mr X stated the matter caused him distress and damaged his reputation.

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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’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the documents provided by Mr X and I spoke to him about his complaint on the telephone.
6. I considered the Council’s response to my enquiries.
7. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Council Tax

8. The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations cover the way councils collect council tax payments and the way they can recover council tax debt.
9. Council tax is charged for occupation on a daily basis and the council tax year starts on 1 April. Tenants are liable for council tax for the period they live in the property. Councils will usually collect payments through ten monthly instalments.
10. Where there is a council tax debt a council can issue an arrangement notice to the person liable for the debt before it takes recovery action. This often breaks the payment in to smaller monthly amounts. If the person fails to make a payment the whole amount becomes payable immediately.
11. Before a council can pursue someone for a council tax debt it must first send a demand to that person with their name on it. The law says that a document is deemed to be served if it has been posted to the person’s proper address which is likely to be their last known address, ‘unless the contrary is proved’. For the contrary to be proved the council would have to know the address was not the person’s proper address.
12. To use its powers to recover unpaid council tax, a council must apply to the Magistrates’ Court for a liability order against the person or persons it believes should have paid the bill.
13. Once a council has obtained a liability order it can begin recovery action. Recovery action can take different forms and a council can instruct enforcement agents to recover the debt by arranging payments.
14. Published guidance on the collection of council tax arrears states councils should remain prepared to deal directly with individuals at any point. It says where there is a case to do so, councils should consider calling action back from enforcement agents.

What happened

15. Mr X lived in a property (property A) in the Council’s area between June 2014 and February 2015. When he moved out of property A, he moved to another council area, Council B. Mr X says he did not pay council tax while he was living in property A as the Council did not send him a bill, despite him requesting one.
16. In August 2019 the Council sent Mr X an email informing him he was liable for council tax at property A from June 2014 to July 2015. Mr X said he did not provide the Council with his new address because he moved around a lot and preferred to correspond using email.
17. Mr X told the Council he left property A in February 2015 and therefore he was not liable for any council tax beyond that date. Mr X complained to the Council about the matter.
18. The Council provided a response in November 2019 and stated Mr X was only liable for the period June 2014 to February 2015. It agreed Mr X could pay the outstanding debt in monthly instalments. It sent him a council tax arrangement notice explaining the first payment was due in December 2019.
19. Mr X complained to the Council at stage two and did not make the first payment as set out in the arrangement notice while he waited for the Council’s response. When Mr X received the Council’s final response, he immediately paid a double instalment on the account. However, because Mr X missed the first payment on the arrangement notice, without notifying the Council, the Council’s systems automatically cancelled it. The Council wrote to Mr X asking for immediate payment of the full amount. The Council sent it to the last known address it held for Mr X which was property A. The Council sent Mr X a final reminder notice in January 2020. Mr X did not receive any of the reminders.
20. In February 2020 the Council applied to the Magistrates’ Court for a liability order against Mr X. The court issued a summons to Mr X which was sent to property A. It then issued a liability order against Mr X at the hearing.
21. At the beginning of March 2020, the Council passed Mr X’s account to Enforcement Agents.
22. Records show after missing the first repayment Mr X made subsequent monthly payments until the debt was cleared. Mr X stated he contacted the Council in April 2020 and it confirmed to him the balance was paid and it would provide a final statement. The Council withdrew the court summons against Mr X and the associated costs as a gesture of goodwill. It said it could not find Mr X’s account on the Enforcement Agent’s system. It therefore assumed it had not passed the account to the Agents in the first place.
23. The case however remained with the Enforcement Agents and in November 2020 they wrote to Mr X at his address in Council B to collect payment.
24. Mr X complained to the Council about the matter. The Council responded and accepted that it had not recalled Mr X’s account from the Enforcement Agent once the account was cleared. The Council apologised for the distress caused to Mr X and confirmed that he would not receive any further contact from the Enforcement Agents. Dissatisfied with the Council’s response Mr X complained to us.

My findings

25. Mr X was liable for the council tax at property A and entered into a payment arrangement with the Council to pay the debt. As Mr X failed to meet the first payment the Council wrote to him asking for full payment. There was no fault in the Council requesting full payment once Mr X had broken the agreed payment plan on the arrangement notice.
26. Mr X made two payments in December, one in January and one in February. The Council applied for a liability order in February 2020 and passed this to enforcement agents in March 2020. There is no evidence the Council considered the payments Mr X had made prior to obtaining the liability order or passing the account to the Enforcement Agents. That was fault.
27. Mr X did not receive the request for payment letter or final reminder for full payment as the Council sent them to property A, Mr X’s last known address. The Council knew he had not lived there for 5 years. Mr X was given the opportunity to provide the Council with his current postal address but declined to do so. The Council could have sent the request for payment and final reminder via email, however the service of a court summons cannot be completed through email. Therefore, it is not the fault of the Council that Mr X did not receive the court summons to the liability hearing.
28. The Council failed to properly check its systems once Mr X had cleared the debt which meant the case remained with the Enforcement Agents. That was fault and caused Mr X distress when he received the enforcement notice in November.
29. The faults caused Mr X distress and frustration, and time and trouble pursuing the complaint. The Council accepted it handled the case poorly and is carrying out an internal review. It offered an apology and a payment of £400 which is appropriate to remedy the injustice caused. Further investigation by us would not achieve anything more for Mr X. However, we need to see evidence the Council has carried out these actions.

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Agreed action

30. The Council has agreed to provide us with evidence it has apologised and paid Mr X £400 in recognition of the distress, frustration and time and trouble caused by its poor handling of his case and its failure to return the case from Enforcement Agents within one month of the final decision.
31. The Council has agreed to provide us with a copy of its internal review and identified actions within two months of the final decision.

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Final decision

32. I have decided to complete my investigation. I have found fault and the Council agreed to my recommendations to remedy the injustice caused by the fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman