Summary: Mrs X complained the Council delayed from 20 December 2020 until 4 February 2021 in providing a full statement of account for her late parents’ Council Tax accounts. Mrs X also complained about the Council sending incorrect Council Tax bills from 18 December 2020 to 13 January 2021 and for the way in which it managed her complaint and contacts. The Ombudsman discontinued our investigation of this complaint as there is insufficient evidence of fault, and any injustice caused to Mrs X is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council delayed in providing a full statement of account from 20 December 2020 until 4 February 2021 for her late parents’ Council Tax accounts.
2. Mrs X also complained the Council sent various bills from 18 December 2020 until 13 January 2021 for the Council Tax accounts. Mrs X says the Council issued some of these bills in the name of her late parents.
3. Mrs X also complained the Council failed to contact her to discuss her Stage 2 complaint and the Council failed to respond to her contact after it sent the Stage 2 complaint response.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

5. 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

6. I have considered Mrs X complaint and the supporting information provided by both Mrs and the Council.
7. I considered Mrs X’s and the Council’s comments before making my final decision.

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What I found

What happened

8. Mrs X’s mother passed away on 18 December 2019.
9. Mrs X was granted probate and named executor of her mother’s estate on 29 September 2020. Mrs X also applied to the Valuation Tribunal asking it to re-band her mother’s property as Band B rather than Band C.
10. The Valuation Tribunal agreed to the re-banding and told the Council on 13 December 2020. Mrs X also wrote to the Council on 4 December 2020 to confirm she and her brother now jointly owned their mother’s property.
11. The Council rebilled Mrs X’s mother’s Council Tax account from 1993 up to 31 March 2021 as a Band B property on 18 December 2020. The Council sent billing out in the name of the executors and the name of Mrs X’s mother.
12. Mrs X asked the Council to provide a refund of overpayments for Council Tax since 1993. Mrs X provided all relevant documents to the Council and confirmed the property was now solely in her name from 19 December 2020.
13. The Council contacted Mrs X by telephone and offered a refund of the overpayments. Mrs X rejected this without a full breakdown of the charges. Mrs X complained to the Council on 23 December 2020 and asked for a breakdown of the overpayments.
14. The Council sent a Stage 1 complaint response on 8 January 2021. The Council apologised for any confusion over the billing and provided an overview of the new balances on the four accounts it held since 1993 for the property.
15. The Council rebilled the accounts again on 13 January 2021. This rebilling put the two accounts up to 19 December 2019 into a credit balance of £3,376.83. The Council issued this rebilling up to 19 December 2019 in the names of Mrs X’s parents. The billing also showed the balance owed on the two accounts from 19 December 2019 up to 31 March 2021 in the name of the executors, including Mrs X.
16. Mrs X contacted the Council to request a statement of account to prove the balance. The Council provided Mrs X with a statement of account on 4 February 2021. Mrs X confirmed her satisfaction with this statement of account.
17. Mrs X made a Stage 2 complaint to the Council on 16 February 2021.
18. The Council sent Mrs X a refund cheque of £3,376.83 in February 2021 in the name of the executors. Mrs X’s bank would not cash the cheque. Mrs X asked the Council to re-issue the cheque in her name. The Council did this and Mrs X banked the cheque on 10 March 2021.
19. The Council provided its Stage 2 response on 22 March 2021 and directed Mrs X to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (the Ombudsman). Mrs X responded to the Council’s Stage 2 complaint on 27 March 2021. The Council responded to this contact on 4 May 2021 and reiterated its referral to the Ombudsman.

Analysis

Billing delays and statement of account

20. Mrs X complained the Council delayed in rebilling her late mother’s Council Tax accounts following from the Valuation Office’s re-banding. Mrs X also complained the Council delayed in providing a statement of account.
21. The Council took 15 working days from Mrs X’s contact on 20 December 2020 to accurately re-bill the Council Tax accounts based on the new banding. The Council then took an extra 16 working days to provide a full statement of account that Mrs X was satisfied with.
22. I do not consider that such a time frame is fault or presents a significant personal injustice to Mrs X. The lack of significant personal injustice would mean that it would not be a good use of public money to justify the Ombudsman’s involvement to investigate this part of the complaint.

Billing issues

23. Mrs X complained the Council sent various bills from 18 December 2020 until 13 January 2021 with the Council issuing some of these bills in the name of her late parents.
24. The Council sent various bills from 18 December 2020 to 13 January 2021. This repeated revision of billing could cause confusion. The Council has accepted this and has apologised for it within its Stage 1 response.
25. The Council has also explained to Mrs X the accounts would remain in the name of the person responsible for the property when the accounts were open. When a new person is responsible at a property, the Council sets up a new account in this person’s name. The Council explained this is the reason Mrs X received letters in the name of her late parents. The Council has apologised for any distress this may have caused within its Stage 2 response.
26. Further investigation by the Ombudsman would not show the actions detailed in paragraphs 24 and 25 created an injustice to Mrs X warranting more than an apology from the Council.

Complaint handling

27. Mrs X complained about the way the Council handled her contacts and complaint.
28. The Council failed to provide its Stage 2 response within its complaint timescales. However, this delay of 14 working days is not significant and did not cause a significant personal injustice to Mrs X warranting an investigation by the Ombudsman.
29. While Mrs X complained the Council did not contact her to discuss her Stage 2 complaint, the Council considered the information Mrs X provided and her previous contacts in forming its Stage 2 response. The Council is under no duty to contact a person to discuss their complaint further. I do not find fault.
30. Mrs X also complained the Council failed to respond to her reply to its Stage 2 complaint response. The Council had directed Mrs X to the Ombudsman and was under no duty to respond to further contacts about the same matter. Despite this, the Council provided a further response to Mrs X on 4 May 2021. I again do not find fault.

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Final decision

31. I have discontinued investigating this complaint and do not uphold Mrs X's complaint. There is not enough evidence to show fault justifying an investigation in certain aspects of the complaint. The injustice caused to Mrs X through any identifiable fault is also not so great the Ombudsman would be likely to recommend a remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman