Summary: Miss X complained the Council wrongly passed her council tax account to enforcement agents after it had agreed to put matters on hold whilst a payment plan was agreed. Miss X further complained the enforcement agents visited her property without warning and were intimidating and bullied her family. There was no fault in the Council’s actions or those of the enforcement agents.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council:
• wrongly passed her council tax account to enforcement agents, although she said the Council agreed to put matters on hold whilst a payment plan was arranged; and
• failed to respond to her communications.
2. Miss X stated the enforcement agents visited her property without warning and were intimidating and bullied her and her family. Miss X said this caused her distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), 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 read the documents provided by Miss X and discussed her complaint with her.
6. I read the documents provided by the Council in response to my enquiries.
7. I read the enforcement agents’ case files and its correspondence with Miss X.
8. Miss 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

Legislation

9. The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 cover both the way councils collect payments of council tax and the way councils can recover council tax debt.
10. The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 and associated regulations cover the way enforcement agents may recover debts.
11. The council tax bill for the year is due on 1 April each year. A council will usually collect payment through monthly instalments. If any instalment is missed the council will send the liable person a reminder. If a payment is still not made or a further payment missed, then the entire outstanding balance will be due (that is the full amount for the rest of the year).
12. To use the various powers available to it to recover unpaid council tax, a council has to apply to the Magistrates Court for a liability order against those it believes are liable. Once a council has obtained a liability order it can take recovery action.
13. A liability order gives a council legal power to take enforcement action to collect the money owed. This can include taking deductions from benefits, getting an attachment of earnings (by which deductions are taken directly from earnings by an employer and passed to the Council) or using enforcement agents. The Council can decide which recovery method it wishes to use but it can only use one method for one liability order at one time.
14. The government has published guidance entitled ‘Guidance to local councils on good practice in the collection of council tax arrears’. The guidance says councils should remain prepared to deal directly with individuals at any point. It says Councils can ‘call action back from the [enforcement agents] at anytime and where there is a case to do so they should consider such action’.
15. The ‘Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014’ set out the fees enforcement agents can charge at each stage when recovering debt.
16. The government has published guidance entitled ‘Guidance to local councils on good practice in the collection of council tax arrears’. The guidance says councils must ensure enforcement agents provide clear and accurate information about costs to the bill payer, including a breakdown of costs, outlining how much has been charged for enforcement agents’ action.

What happened

17. In 2019 the Council held five liability orders against Miss X for the balance of council tax debts. The debts were outstanding from council tax arrears accrued between 2008 and 2017 and totaled over £2,000 at that time. The Council records show it had sent Miss X the bills, reminder notices, final reminders, summons and liability notices for each debt at the times they became due. The Council had made previous attempts to collect the debts since 2008 including using enforcement agents and attachment of earnings, but had been unsuccessful.
18. In November the Council passed all the debts to the enforcement agents to collect the full amount from Miss X. Initially the enforcement agents sent Miss X five letters entitled “Council tax notice of issue of liability order. Information preliminary to taking control of goods”. Each letter stated the outstanding balance for the relevant liability order and explained payment must be made in full to the enforcement agents within 14 days. The letter set out the consequences of not paying, how to request a payment arrangement and listed the enforcement fees. Five days later the enforcement agents sent Miss X a text message asking her to contact its office immediately.
19. The enforcement agents did not receive a response to these letters and so sent five notice of enforcement letters to Miss X in December, one for each liability order. Each letter set out the individual amount Miss X owed, the address the debt related to, the dates she was liable for and the details of the liability order. Each notice of enforcement stated payment must be made within seven days or a collection agent would visit to take control of Miss X’s goods. It outlined the additional fees that would be applied, gave details of how to pay and provided details of advice and information services. Miss X did not respond to the enforcement agents, so it sent a further notice of enforcement letter eight days later, and a text message five days after that.
20. A collection agent visited Miss X’s property in March. The records show the agent did not speak to anybody at the property and left as nobody answered. The agent sent Miss X a text message stating the full amount of council tax debt, that removal had been booked in between five and eight o’clock that evening and may take place in her absence.
21. Miss X rang the Council and explained both she and her partner had lost their jobs and needed time to sort out their finances. The Council agreed to put a hold on Miss X’s account for one month and told her to contact the enforcement agents before the end of the hold to make a payment arrangement. The Council informed the enforcement agents. The enforcement agents put a hold on the account and informed the collections agent.
22. While the account was on hold the Council told the enforcement agents to place a further 88 days hold as a COVID-19 precaution. The enforcement agents did not contact Miss X again until August 2020. Once the hold ended the enforcement agents sent Miss X five letters outlining the outstanding balance of each debt. The letters stated enforcement action could now start again and outlined how they were working in a COVID-19 safe way. It also asked Miss X to make contact to discuss her options.
23. Miss X again spoke with the Council after receiving the letters and told it she could not make the payments, and she and her partner had made a claim for universal credit. The Council agreed to reduce Miss X’s payments for her 2019/20 council tax bill which she was paying directly to the Council. It also stated it would ask the enforcement agents to put a hold on its account for Miss X’s debt. The records show the Council contacted the enforcement agents and asked for the hold to be applied. The enforcement agents suggested a temporarily reduced payment plan of £40 per month starting in September. The records show the Council contacted Miss X on the phone and she agreed the temporary arrangement for the debt. The Council confirmed this with the enforcement agents. Miss X states she did not agree to a reduced payment and the Council told her the enforcement agents had refused to place the account on hold.
24. Between the arrangement in August and the end of September there was email correspondence between Miss X and the enforcement agents about the agreements. Miss X stated she was making payments directly to the Council and it had requested the enforcement agents to hold the account. The enforcement agents told Miss X to contact the Council if she was no longer able to make the payments she had agreed with it. Miss X contacted the Council and asked it to take back her account from the enforcement agents. The Council did not agree to do so and the debt remained with the enforcement agents.
25. Miss X did not make the first payment on the reduced agreement and the enforcement agents sent her five broken arrangement letters, one for each liability order. The letter stated the arrangement was cancelled and it would now proceed with the removal and sale of goods. It also sent a text message stating the arrangement had been broken and asking Miss X to call the office.
26. In September Miss X emailed the enforcement agents and stated she would not receive a universal credit payment until the middle of the month and as such would be unable to make any payment until then. The enforcement agents told Miss X her account would be overseen by the welfare team and asked for further information about her circumstances.
27. In October Miss X provided some of the requested information and the enforcement agents agreed to reinstate the temporarily reduced payment plan of £40 per month. It also asked Miss X to provide information on health matters and her benefit entitlement. After a further telephone conversation with Miss X’s partner the enforcement agents agreed to a reduced payment of £25 per month on the basis universal credit was the only source of income for the family. The enforcement agents asked Miss X to provide proof of this benefit. Miss X provided a statement which showed there was income from another source as well as universal credit. The enforcement agents asked Miss X to provide the next month’s statement to show universal credit as the only source of income. Miss X refused to provide the document.
28. In November Miss X asked the Council again to take her account back from the enforcement agents. The records show the council tax team’s supervisor and team leader were to discuss this with the council’s tax back-office team. There is no contemporaneous record of the decision. However, in the Council’s response to my enquiries it stated it considered Miss X’s request. It decided it was not in the Council’s interests to take the account back given Miss X’s history of non-payment. It also believed the enforcement agents’ welfare team was best placed to support Miss X; however, it remained happy to negotiate between Miss X and the enforcement agents.
29. Miss X made a complaint to the Council. The Council directed the enforcement agents to place a hold on Miss X’s account while it investigated the complaint. Miss X complained about the way the enforcement agents had dealt with her account and she felt bullied and harassed by them. Miss X outlined her financial and personal circumstances including her mental health and partner’s physical illness. Miss X asked the Council to recall the debt from the enforcement agents so she could deal with the Council directly.
30. The Council responded to Miss X. It explained it had investigated Miss X’s complaint and did not uphold it. It found the enforcement agents had acted in line with the legislation, had referred Miss X’s account to their welfare team and did not harass her. The Council stated the account would not be recalled. It asked Miss X to suggest an affordable monthly amount within one month which could be agreed as a payment plan with the enforcement agents.
31. Miss X complained to the Council again in December 2020. She stated she had not missed any payments on her account and provided evidence she felt the Council had not considered. Miss X stated she would make payments directly to the Council but would not make a payment to the enforcement agents. Miss X did not suggest an amount for the ongoing payment plan.
32. The Council responded to Miss X in January 2021. It stated it did not uphold Miss X’s complaint. It stated Miss X had missed payments on her 2019/20 council tax bill and this was the reason for her account being passed to the enforcement agents. It considered the additional evidence Miss X had provided and concluded it did not alter the findings at stage 1. The Council again asked Miss X to suggest an affordable monthly amount and stated it would support her to arrange a payment plan with the enforcement agents.
33. In response to my enquiries the Council confirmed the statement made in the stage 2 response to Miss X was an error. It stated an assumption had been made that the account had been passed to enforcement agents due to a non-payment of the 2019/20 bill. The account was in fact passed to enforcement agents in 2019 but for debts from previous years.
34. Dissatisfied with the response Miss X complained to us. She stated she had not missed a single payment on the 2019/20 council tax bill, and she had been bullied by the enforcement agents. Miss X wanted the Council to take her account back from the enforcement agents so she could pay it directly.

My findings

35. The Council passed liability orders for debts from 2008 to 2017 to the enforcement agents in January 2019. At that time Miss X was making payments on her current council tax bill for 2019/20. The Council was entitled to pass the debts to the enforcement agents. The existence of a current bill being paid in line with installments does not prevent the Council from seeking recovery on existing debts. There was no fault in the Council’s actions.
36. The Council agreed to place a hold on Miss X’s council tax bill for 2019/20 in March for one month. It applied this hold to the current year’s bill and asked the enforcement agents to apply the same hold. This was not an indefinite hold and at the end of the month the current year’s account became payable again. The hold on the debt remained in place for an additional 88 days due to the restrictions applied on enforcement action due to COVID-19. There was no fault in the Council’s actions.
37. The enforcement agents sent letters to Miss X about the debts for which they had liability orders. Over a period of 12 months, it sent 6 letters for each debt and 5 text messages, which is not excessive. In each letter it informed Miss X what she could do to avoid the situation, provided sources of advice and support and clearly set out the next steps. The letters were in line with legislation and guidance. Three letters for each debt and two text messages were sent to Miss X before the collections agent visited stating they would attend her property. The collections agent visited Miss X’s property once, and didn’t speak to anyone, and then sent two text messages. There was no fault in the enforcement agents’ actions.
38. The records show the Council and enforcement agents responded to Miss X’s emails in a timely way and phone calls were answered. The Council considered Miss X’s request to take back her account from the enforcement agents. It decided it was not in the Council’s interest to do so. It continued to support Miss X in arranging payments of the existing debt to the enforcement agents. There was no fault in the Council’s actions.
39. In the Council’s stage 2 response it wrongly stated the debt had been passed to enforcement agents due to non-payment of the 2019/20 account. This was a minor administrative error. Although this may have caused Miss X some confusion I do not go so far as to find fault. All the Council’s, and enforcement agents’, previous communications with Miss X had been clear about the amount of council tax owed and its origin.

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Final decision

40. I completed my investigation as there was no evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman