London Borough of Lewisham (21 002 865)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 12 Jul 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s pursuit of the complainant for Council Tax arrears. The complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, complains about the Council’s pursuit of him for Council Tax arrears for a property he says he never lived in. He says he found the matter stressful and wants and apology and compensation.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
- The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Assessment
- Mr X complained to the Council in February 2020 that enforcement agents had visited his home without any previous correspondence of the matter. He says he has never lived in the property the arrears are for.
- If Mr X wanted to challenge the Council’s decision on his council tax liability he could have appealed to the Valuation Tribunal, the statutory tribunal set up by Parliament to hear such disputes. As this alternative remedy was available to him, we would reasonably have expected him to have made use of it.
- Also, the council has confirmed it has recalled the debt from the Enforcement Agents and will not be following the matter with Mr X.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint because:
- Mr X could have appealed to the Valuation Tribunal at the time; and
- the Council has confirmed it is no longer following him for the debt.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman