Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Council error involving the complainant’s council tax. This is because the Council has offered a fair and proportionate remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council ended his council tax direct debit without telling him and, a year later, asked him to pay £1163 in addition to his current council tax. Mr X wants a discount.

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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 the Council has offered a fair remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

4. Mr X separated from his partner. In February 2020 he told the Council and claimed the council tax single person discount. Mr X had always paid his council tax by direct debit so, having claimed the discount and received a revised bill, he forgot about the council tax, knowing it was covered by the direct debit.
5. In February 2021 Mr X received a council tax bill for £1163 for the council tax for 2020/21. He complained to the Council. In response the Council explained it had made an error when it applied the single person discount. It closed the joint account and set up a new account in Mr X’s sole name. But, it failed to transfer the direct debit to the new account. The Council further explained that the error was compounded by the fact that it had stopped sending reminders, due to COVID-19, which meant Mr X was unaware the council tax was not being paid. The Council accepted that Mr X would not have had cause to check the council tax bill because he believed he had set up payment by direct debit.
6. The Council said it could not reduce the bill. But, it offered to set the payments over 12 or 24 months. It invited Mr X to apply for discretionary relief (reduction) if paying the council tax would cause financial hardship. The Council apologised for the error and said it had spoken to the officer who made the mistake.
7. The Council has put recovery action on hold until June. As far as I am aware Mr X has not made a payment arrangement although he is paying the council tax for 2021/22 by direct debit. The Council says Mr X has not applied for discretionary relief.
8. Mr X says he should get a discount due to the inconvenience and distress.

Assessment

9. Through no fault of his own Mr X has ended up with council tax arrears. Mr X did nothing wrong while the Council made a mistake and failed to transfer the direct debit to the sole account. However, while there was an error by the Council, I will not start an investigation because the Council has offered a fair remedy. It has explained what went wrong, apologised, spoken to the officer, offered to spread the payments over two years and invited Mr X to apply for discretionary relief if paying the arrears will cause hardship.
10. I appreciate Mr X wants a discount but he has still had use of the full range of council services, he has not suffered a financial loss and he did not pay any council tax while the direct debit was inactive. And, if paying two lots of council tax at once will cause hardship, he can apply for discretionary relief. As the Council has offered a fair and proportionate remedy an investigation is not required.
11. Mr X would need to contact the Council to set up a payment plan and/or apply for discretionary relief.

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Final decision

12. I will not start an investigation because the Council has offered a fair remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman