Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council collected the final council tax due on a property the complainants were selling. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault and injustice to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainants, whom I refer to as Mr & Mrs X, complain about the way the Council collected the final council tax on a property they were selling. They want £500 compensation.

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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 an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainants and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I considered our Assessment Code and comments the complainants made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

4. The law says people must pay the council tax as billed. If they do not pay the Council can issue a court summons. Landlords are liable for the council tax for any period when a property is empty.
5. In October 2020 Mr & Mrs X told the Council their tenant had left and they were selling the property. They said they would notify the Council of the completion date. The Council sent a council tax bill for the period after the tenant had left. Mr & Mrs X were liable to make monthly payments from 1 December. Mr & Mrs X say the Council told them they did not need to make any payments until they received the final bill.
6. Mr & Mrs X made calls to the Council to explain what was happening. They explained the completion date was due in January but they could not provide the name of the new owner. The Council monitored the land registry but it was not until April that the land registry showed details of the new owner. In the meantime the Council issued a reminder in January for non-payment of the council tax billed in October and it then issued a summons. Mr & Mrs X say they had been waiting for the final bill before paying.
7. Once the Council had details of the new owner it closed the account for Mr & Mrs X, withdrew the summons and cancelled the costs. Mr & Mrs X paid the final bill in May.
8. Mr & Mrs X say they did all they could to ensure the Council had the information it needed to process the closing of the account. But, instead, the Council ignored their communications and issued a summons. They also complain of poor internal communication and that senior officers did not return calls. Mr & Mrs X want £500 compensation and for the Council to be held to account.
9. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council correctly made Mr & Mrs X liable from October and issued a bill. Mr & Mrs X say the Council told them they did not need to make payments until they received the final bill, but the January reminder demonstrates this had not been agreed. The reminder would also have acted as a prompt that payment was needed even though Mr & Mrs X say a delay had been agreed until the account was closed. Mr & Mrs X did not pay the instalments due in December and January so there is no suggestion of fault in the Council’s decision to issue a summons. In addition, the Council closed and amended the account once it had sufficient information.
10. I also will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of injustice. The Council withdrew the summons before the case progressed to court and cancelled the costs. Mr & Mrs X have not suffered a financial loss and have not paid any extra council tax. I appreciate they had to spend time on this matter and have expressed dissatisfaction with the way the Council communicated with them, but this does not represent a level of injustice that requires compensation or an investigation.

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Final decision

11. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault and injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman