Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council did not tell the complainant he had council tax arrears. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation and because it is a late complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, says the Council told him in 2017 that his closing council tax bill was £10. But, in 2019, the Council said it had incorrectly advised him and he owed £1241. Mr X says he should not pay the arrears because the Council gave him incorrect information.

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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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
3. 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

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. I also considered our Assessment Code and comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

5. The Council asked bailiffs to collect council tax arrears of £1241 for property A for 2015/16. The bailiffs returned the account to the Council in 2016 as they were unable to collect the debt.
6. In March 2017 the Council issued a council tax bill for 2017/18. It referred to the arrears from 2015. The Council sent the bill to the correspondence address it held for Mr X. The bill was returned to the Council. Mr X contacted the Council in May 2017. He said he could collect post from property A. The Council re-sent the bill to property A. Also in May 2017 Mr X provided a correspondence address in Hampshire.
7. In November 2017 Mr X told the Council that tenants were living in property A. He says he provided a forwarding address although this is not reflected in the notes. The Council sent a closing bill to property A in December 2017. The bill said Mr X owed £10 for the current year and arrears from 2015. Mr X paid £10.
8. The Council sent a letter in April 2018 telling Mr X it would apply to have him committed to prison if he did not pay. I suspect this letter was sent to the Hampshire address. The Council sent an email in December 2019 repeating that Mr X still owed £1241 for property A. In response to his complaint the Council signposted Mr X to us in April 2020. It also told him it could not listen to the recording of his call in November 2017 because it deletes calls after six months. Mr X complained to us in September 2021.
9. I will not investigate this complaint for the following reasons. The Council instructed bailiffs in 2016 for arrears from 2015. It is unlikely this would have happened without Mr X being aware he owed £1241. He would also have known he had not paid the arrears. In addition, the Council reissued the 2017 council tax bill which stated Mr X had arrears. So, while the Council may have said Mr X owed £10, and did not send the closing bill to the Hampshire address, there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant an investigation. This is because the Council had previously told Mr X he owed £1241 and Mr X would have known he had not paid the arrears.
10. Mr X wants me to listen to his call from November 2017 but the recording has been deleted so I cannot listen to it. Mr X says the Council is obliged to keep all recordings but he has not provided any evidence to support this assertion. If he does not think the Council has handled data correctly he can complain to the Information Commissioner.
11. I also will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint. Mr X has known about the arrears since at least December 2019 but he did not complain to us until September 2021 despite being signposted in April 2020. I have not seen any good reason to investigate a late complaint.

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Final decision

12. I will not investigate this complaint because there is there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because it is a late complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman