Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mr X’s council tax account. This is because the injustice claimed by Mr X is not sufficient to warrant our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to properly link the council tax accounts of the property he was moving out of and his new property. This meant Mr X failed to receive some communication about his accounts and had to spend time contacting the Council, on several occasions, to correct this. Mr X also complains his online account showed a schedule of incorrect direct debit payments, which wrongly took account of a premium charge for empty properties, which did not apply in Mr X’s case. Mr X wants the Council to waive his council tax of around £500 in recognition of the problems he experienced.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 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, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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Background and My assessment

5. The Council provided a detailed complaint response to Mr X in June 2021 which provided a step by step account of what had happened with Mr X’s account. It acknowledged some mistakes, including not properly updating address details, which meant two letters were sent to Mr X’s old account. The Council said however, that the empty property premium was never applied to Mr X’s account and it was unable to explain why Mr X’s online account showed the direct debit schedule that he complained about.
6. Mr X’s account is now correct and the Council has offered him an extended period over which to clear the amount owed.
7. While we acknowledge Mr X was put to some time and trouble, this does not represent a serious enough injustice to warrant our further involvement or the cost of public funds to investigate. It is unlikely we can add to what the Council has said or achieve the outcome Mr X seeks.
8. For these reasons, we will not investigate.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because any injustice caused to Mr X is not serious enough to warrant our involvement.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman