Summary: Ms X complains about her council tax bills. We will not investigate this complaint because the fault complained of was too long ago to investigate and there is a right of appeal to a tribunal.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about her council tax bills.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. The Social Entitlement Chamber (also known as the Social Security Appeal Tribunal) is a tribunal that considers housing benefit appeals. (The Social Entitlement Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal)
4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered the comments of the complainant and the Council and the complainant has commented on the draft decision.

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What I found

6. Ms X lived at Property A from 2013 to 2019. She paid her council tax in full for the period. She says she was unaware of her entitlement to council tax support during this time.
7. The Council says she was told in a phone call (when she moved to Property A) that she should visit the Council offices to make a claim for council tax benefit. The Council says that, following the absence of such a claim, they wrote to Ms X three weeks later to remind her that she had not made a claim (as well as a further phone call). The Council closed the file a month later in the absence of a claim.
8. Ms X made a claim for council tax reduction in December 2020 which was awarded.
9. Ms X has a right of appeal to a tribunal to backdate the award (although this is limited by law). The tribunal is an expert body and their decisions are binding on the Council. I see no reason why an appeal could not be made in this case.
10. The dispute about what was said to Ms X in 2013 is too long ago for the Ombudsman to reach any satisfactory conclusion about were he to investigate.
11. Ms X would have been aware from her council tax bills that she did not receive any council tax reduction with her bills. There is sufficient evidence on the Council’s website and available literature to alert claimants to make such claims (in addition to the advice the Council says they gave her).

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Final decision

12. I do not intend to investigate this complaint because the matter is too old to investigate and there is a right of appeal to a tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman