Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council charged Mrs X for Council Tax arrears that she owed. This is because the Council has proposed a fair remedy and we would not be able to add anything to the outcome.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mrs X, says that she agreed to pay back Council Tax arrears over a five-year period, however the Council had calculated the arrears to be collected over 12 months. Mrs X says that because of this, she has paid more Council Tax than agreed. Mrs X would like the Council to write off a portion of the arrears that she owes.

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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:

• 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))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code and invited Mrs X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

4. The Housing Association notified the Council in January 2020 that Mrs X’s tenancy had ended. Upon receipt of this, the Council cancelled Mrs X’s direct debit for Council Tax.
5. In January 2021, the Council realised that Mrs X had bought her property and it issued a new bill in February 2021 for Council Tax owed since January 2020.
6. In February 2021, Mrs X raised a complaint with the Council that she was not able to settle the arrears in full and in March the Council agreed to a repayment arrangement over 5 years to pay back the arrears.
7. In April 2021, because of changes to Mrs X Council Tax Support (CTS), the Council had to recalculate the instalments.
8. Following further changes to Mrs X’s CTS, she was issued with revised bills between May-July 2021. As this process was automated, the instalments were automatically recalculated over 12 months. By August 2021, Mrs X had paid more than agreed.
9. In view of this, the Council refunded the excess that Mrs X had paid. It has also proposed to create a new account for Mrs X. This would allow the instalments to remain fixed and not subject to any further changes in her CTS.
10. This is a fair remedy as Mrs X was required to pay Council Tax after she purchased her property and the Council has refunded Mrs X for the overpayment she made toward the arrears. It has also proposed amendments to Mrs X’s account to collect the arrears over a five-year period as it originally agreed.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council has proposed a fair remedy to the complaint and we would not be able to add anything to the outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman