Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax arrears. This is because the complainant could appeal to the Valuation Tribunal and because the arrears have been confirmed in court. In addition, there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, says the Council is wrongly pursuing her for council tax arrears. She says a domestic abuser set up the account behind her back and the Council did not get her consent. She also says the Council has blocked her account. Ms X wants an apology and for the Council to waive all the liability orders.

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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. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
5. 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

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

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What I found

Council tax

7. The resident of a property is liable for the council tax.

What happened

8. Ms X has council tax arrears for last year and for previous years. The Council has taken Ms X to court and the court has issued liability orders. Liability orders are court orders confirming the person must pay the council tax and costs. A Council can ask bailiffs to collect the debt after the court has issued a liability order. Some of Ms X’s arrears are with bailiffs.
9. Ms X says a domestic abuser set up a council tax account behind her back. She says the Council did not get her permission to set up an account and it faked summonses to take her to court. Ms X says she is not liable for the council tax. She also says the Council has blocked her account.
10. The Council has received many emails from an unknown email address asking questions about Ms X’s council tax. The Council asked Ms X to confirm if the email address belonged to her. Ms X has not confirmed or denied that the email address is hers. The Council blocked Ms X’s account because it was concerned about the unknown email address and wanted to protect Ms X’s data. It told Ms X what she needs to do to get the account re-activated. The Council has invited Ms X to provide evidence that she lives elsewhere and is not liable for the council tax as billed. The Council says Ms X has not provided evidence that she lives somewhere else.

Assessment

11. I will not start an investigation for the following reasons.
12. The magistrates’ court has confirmed Ms X owes the council tax. I have no power to investigate any matter that has been considered in court.
13. Ms X says she is not liable for the council tax. Ms X can appeal to the Council and explain why she is not liable. If she disagrees with the Council’s response to her appeal she can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. It is reasonable to expect Ms X to appeal because the tribunal is the appropriate body to consider appeals about council tax liability. Ms X would need to provide evidence to support her appeal. For example, she would need to provide evidence that she does not live at the address for which she has been charged council tax.
14. Finally, there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council believes Ms X lives at the billing address. As the resident she is liable for the council tax. The Council does not need Ms X’s consent to issue a bill. In addition, the Council told Ms X why it had deactivated her account and it told her what she needs to do to get it re-activated.

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Final decision

15. I will not start an investigation because the arrears have been confirmed in court, Ms X could appeal to the Valuation Tribunal, and because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman