Summary: Mr X and Mrs Y complained about how the Council managed their council tax accounts. There was fault in how the Council provided information to Mr X and Mrs Y about their arrears, and how it responded to their complaint. This caused them avoidable frustration and confusion, for which the Council agreed to apologise and pay them a financial remedy. The Council also agreed to provide clear information to Mr X and Mrs Y about their arrears.

The complaint

1. Mr X and Mrs Y complained about how the Council dealt with their council tax since 2019. They said the Council:
1. did not send correspondence about council tax arrears relating to their previous address, which meant that they were not aware of the debt;
2. did not explain to them how it calculated the council tax they owed;
3. mishandled their complaint when they raised their concerns and asked for explanations relating to their council tax account;
4. did not give them correct access passes to their council tax account so that they could review their council tax account; and
5. sent a lot of council tax bills in 2021 without marking them appropriately, including which address each bill applied to.
2. They also complain that the bailiffs acting on behalf of the Council:
1. did not share any paperwork relating to the recovery action it was taking against them; and
2. acted inappropriately by frequently contacting them and threatening to show up at their flat and sell off their possessions.
3. Mr X and Mrs Y said that, as a result:
• they had to pay more money than they should have if the Council had explained the calculations properly;
• the Council took enforcement action against them that may not have been necessary if they knew how the council tax arrears were calculated;
• this caused them additional distress as they were frequently contacted by the bailiffs; and
• the bailiff’s actions caused the complainants avoidable distress and worry. They say that for a long time they were uncertain if one day they would come to the property to seize and sell their possessions.
4. They wanted the Council to confirm what they owe and why. They would also like the Council to grant them access to their online council tax account. They also wanted the bailiff company to share all the relevant information and paperwork with regards to the court order against them.

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What I have investigated

5. I have investigated how the Council managed Mr X and Mrs Y’s council tax accounts and communicated with them from April 2020.
6. The final section of this statement contains my reasons for not investigating matters before then.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

7. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
8. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. 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
9. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

10. I considered:
• the information Mr X and Mrs Y provided and their views about the Council’s actions;
• the Council’s comments on the complaint and the supporting information it provided; and
• relevant law and guidance.
11. Mr X, Mrs Y and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Council tax

12. The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 cover both the way councils collect payments of council tax and the way councils can recover council tax debt. The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 and associated regulations cover the way bailiffs may recover debts.
13. The council tax bill for the year is due on the 1st April each year. A council will usually collect payment through monthly instalments. If any instalment is missed the council will send the liable person a reminder. If a payment is still not made or a further payment missed, then the entire outstanding balance will be due (that is the full amount for the rest of the year).
14. To use the various powers available to it to recover unpaid council tax, a council has to apply to the Magistrates Court for a liability order against those it believes are liable. Once a council has obtained a liability order it can take recovery action.
15. A liability order gives a council legal powers to take enforcement action to collect the money owed. This can include taking deductions from benefits, getting an attachment of earnings (by which deductions are taken directly from earnings by an employer and passed to the Council) or using bailiffs. The Council can decide which recovery method it wishes to use but it can only use one method for one liability order at one time.

Enforcement agents (bailiffs)

16. The Council may ask bailiffs to attend a person’s property and seize goods to the value of a council tax debt, if it has a liability order from the Magistrates Court.
17. Bailiffs’ powers to seize goods are set out in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (“the Act”). Schedule 12 of the Act provides a clear procedure for how bailiffs may take control of goods.
18. The ‘Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014’ sets out the fees a bailiff can charge when recovering debt and the three stages they must follow:

• The Compliance Stage – a bailiff must issue a notice of enforcement seven clear days before they take control of the goods. The fee for this stage is £75.
• The Enforcement Stage – this stage starts once a bailiff has made a first visit. At this visit they can take control of the goods. Once they have done this they must give the debtor a notice. The fee for this stage is £235. If outstanding debts are more than £1500, bailiffs can charge a further 7.5% of the amount outstanding over £1500.
• The Sale or Disposal Stage – this stage starts once a bailiff has taken control of the goods. They must then allow seven clear days between the removal of goods and their sale. In this time a bailiff must value the goods and send a copy to the debtor. The fee for this stage is £110.
   

19. The government has published guidance entitled ‘Guidance to local councils on good practice in the collection of council tax arrears’. The guidance says councils must ensure bailiffs provide clear and accurate information about costs to the bill payer, including a breakdown of costs, outlining how much has been charged for bailiff action.

What happened

Background before April 2020

20. Mr X and Mrs Y moved into their former home (Property A) around 2015.
21. The Council’s records show that Mr and Mrs X owed some council tax arrears in the years after they moved to Property A. In the first two years, they paid the outstanding arrears without the Council taking any formal action.
22. However, Mr X and Mrs Y had larger amount of arrears in both the 2017/18 and 2018/19 tax years. In both cases, the Council obtained liability orders for these arrears in early 2019 and passed the debts to its bailiffs.
23. In mid-2019, Mr X and Mrs Y received advice from a local debt advice service. The service negotiated monthly payments towards these two debts. The records from the Council show that Mr X and Mrs Y paid these agreed payments between October 2019 and August 2020, but then stopped paying.
24. While making payments towards these arrears, Mr X and Mrs Y paid their council tax for 2019/20 in full, through normal monthly payments.

April 2020 – February 2021

25. The Council sent Mr X and Mrs Y a council tax bill for 2020/21 in early April 2020. The Council’s records show that Mr X and Mrs Y paid the first five monthly payments in line with the payment schedule shown on that bill.
26. From September 2020, Mr X and Mrs Y set up two-weekly direct debits for the remainder of the year. These payments continued until March 2021, during which several of these payments were returned unpaid by Mr X and Mrs Y’s bank.

February 2021 – June 2021

27. In February 2021, Mr X and Mrs Y moved home to Property B. The Council says it first found out about the move in early March 2021 when Mr X and Mrs Y told it they had moved out of Property A. It updated Mr X and Mrs Y’s postal address, but as they had not given a move-in date, the Council asked Mr X and Mrs Y to send it this information.
28. Around the same time, the Council sent the 2021/22 council tax bill for Property A to Mr X and Mrs Y. This was for the whole of 2021/22, as the bills had been prepared shortly before the Council knew they had moved.
29. A few weeks later, a friend of Mr X and Mrs Y called the Council on their behalf. The Council’s records say it tried to ask the friend for the move-in date, but that the friend could not provide that information at the time.
30. After confirming when Mr X and Mrs Y moved home, the Council sent them revised bills in early April 2020 for:
• Property A - this bill only showed a single sum described as “balance brought forward”. This was the total amount Mr X and Mrs Y owed from their time at Property A, but did not show what period this covered or any adjustment for them moving out before the end of the tax year.
• Property B – a bill for council tax for 2021/22 and for the part of the 2020/21 tax year they were living at Property B.
31. Around the same time, the Council also sent bills to Property B for the part of 2020/21 before Mr X and Mrs Y moved in. These bills were addressed to the “Council Tax Payer” but did not clearly show what period the bills were for.
32. During April and May 2021, the Council’s records show Mr X and Mrs Y told the Council several times that they could not access their council tax account online. In response to each of these requests, the Council sent Mr X and Mrs Y copies of their council tax bills, each of which contained a unique code for them to register with. The Council did this even after Mr X and Mrs Y told the Council the codes were not working.

Mr X and Mrs Y’s complaint to the Council

33. In June 2021 Mr X and Mrs Y complained to the Council that:
• they did not understand why they owed the arrears the Council claimed;
• they could not register for an online account to check the debts for themselves; and
• they had received many confusing bills from the Council.
34. The Council replied to the complaint in July 2021. In its response the Council said:
• it had sent several bills because of the changes to Mr X and Mrs Y’s council tax accounts when they moved. It encouraged them to pay the amount stated on the most recent bill;
• at the time of the response, Mr X and Mrs Y were up-to-date with their council tax for Property B;
• it had checked the amounts charged for each year and these were correct. However, because enforcement action had been taken, fees had been added by the bailiffs; and
• Mr X and Mrs Y still owed a small amount for Property A from 2020/21 because of the returned direct debits. It encouraged them to pay this as soon as possible.
35. The Council also included a summary of the amounts Mr X and Mrs Y owed for Property A and Property B.
36. Mr X and Mrs Y were not satisfied with the Council’s response, so asked the Council to review its decision. However, the Council did not respond to this complaint so Mr X and Mrs Y complained to the Ombudsman in September 2021.

Enforcement action after June 2021

37. The Council’s records show that Mr X and Mrs Y made two monthly payments towards the bill for Property B in May and June 2021. After the July payment was missed, the Council sent a reminder in August 2021. When this was not paid, the Council then applied for a liability order, which was granted in October 2021. The Council then passed this debt to its enforcement agents.
38. Since then, Mr X and Mrs Y have made several payments towards this debt and, according to the information from the Council, this debt is now fully repaid.
39. In May 2021, the Council also sent a reminder notice to Mr X and Mrs Y about the small amount still owing from Property A for the 2020/21 tax year. When this was not paid, the Council obtained a liability order for these arrears in November 2021 and passed the debt to its enforcement agents.
40. Around June 2021, Mr X and Mrs Y resumed payments towards their arrears from 2017/18 and 2018/19. Based on the Council’s records, this resulted in Mr X and Mrs Y clearing their arrears from 2018/19.

My findings

41. For the reasons given at the end of this decision statement, I have not considered how the arrears for 2017/18 and 2018/19 came about. However, I have considered how the Council managed these arrears after April 2020.

a) correspondence about council tax arrears for Property A

42. Mr X and Mrs Y knew about the arrears from 2017/18 and 2018/19. They received debt advice about these arrears in 2019 and made payments towards these debts until mid-2020.
43. However, the bills the Council sent them while they lived at Property A contained confusing information about arrears. Each bill showed the total amount of arrears owed for the property (all previous years combined). However, several bills stated the combined total was owed for the previous year, even if there were no arrears owing for that year or if the arrears were for several previous years. I am satisfied this information was so confusing that it constituted fault. This led to Mr X and Mrs Y becoming confused about how much they owed and for which years.
44. After Mr X and Mrs Y moved home, the Council sent them a final bill which just showed a single amount referred to as “balance brought forward”. It was not apparent, from that bill, that Mr X and Mrs Y owed any Council tax arrears for Property A from 2020/21. Again, I am satisfied that was fault which added to their confusion.
45. However, the Council sent Mr X and Mrs Y a reminder clearly showing the amount outstanding in May 2021 and explained how these arrears came about in its complaint response in July 2021. I am satisfied that, at this point, it was clear that Mr X and Mrs Y owed arrears for 2020/21 and why this was so.
46. So, while I am satisfied the bills the Council sent to Mr X and Mrs Y about council tax for 2020/21 caused them some confusion and frustration, the enforcement action the Council took several months later was not due to any fault on the part of the Council.

b) poor explanations about how the Council calculated the debts

47. Mr X and Mrs Y asked the Council to explain how much they owed in council tax and how the Council had calculated the debt. In response, the Council sent them a statement of account showing the council tax charges and payments they had made. However, this statement did not clearly show how much Mr X and Mrs Y owed for each year separately, and did not include the fees which had been added by the bailiffs.
48. Having reviewed the information the Council provided about Mr X and Mrs Y’s council tax account, I am satisfied that the Council has correctly calculated the total amount owing and the fees charged by the bailiffs are in line with what the law allows.
49. However, I am satisfied that the Council has not clearly explained to Mr X and Mrs Y how much they owe for each year, including fees, or how each outstanding balance was calculated. This was fault which meant that Mr X and Mrs Y could not check the debts against their own records which caused them avoidable confusion.

c) the Council’s response to Mr X and Mrs Y’s complaint

50. The Council replied to Mr X and Mrs Y’s stage one complaint within an acceptable time. The Council’s response addressed most of their concerns and explained how the more recent debts had come about. Apart from the confusing statement of account I refer to above, I am satisfied this response was appropriate.
51. When Mr X and Mrs Y asked to escalate their complaint to stage two of the Council’s complaints procedure, the Council instead treated this as an appeal against a council tax discount decision. Mr X and Mrs Y’s letter did not mention this discount decision and their stage two complaint was clearly a continuation of their complaint about their council tax debt. In its response to our enquiries, the Council accepted it had not responded to the stage two complaint properly. This was fault which caused Mr X and Mrs Y avoidable frustration but I am satisfied it did not delay their complaint to the Ombudsman.

d) access to their online council tax accounts

52. Mr X and Mrs Y told the Council they could not register for an online account several times in 2021. Each time, the Council sent a replacement bill with a new registration code. However, despite Mr X and Mrs Y’s increasing frustration that this was not working, the Council did not do anything further to address their lack of online access. Missing these opportunities to resolve the problem was fault which caused Mr X and Mrs Y further avoidable frustration. However, this has since been resolved and Mr X and Mrs Y have accessed their online council tax account during 2022.

e) multiple, confusing bills in 2021

53. The Council sent Mr X and Mrs Y more than ten council tax bills after they moved in March 2021:
• three for Property A;
• six for Property B; and
• several more for Property B addressed to “Council Tax Payer” which were for the period before Mr X and Mrs Y moved into the property.
54. All the bills sent to Mr X and Mrs Y by name showed which property the bill related to. Although they expected to keep the same council tax account number, this is not how the council operates its system and I am satisfied allocating a new account number for Property B was not fault.
55. The Council has explained why it issued three bills for Property A:
• The first bill was for the whole of 2021/22 and was produced before the Council knew Mr X and Mrs Y had moved. Given when they moved, I am satisfied there was no fault in issuing this bill.
• A revised bill after the Council processed Mr X and Mrs Y’s move. This bill showed just a single amount for all outstanding council tax they owed for Property A. It did not show that they still owed any council tax for 2020/21. I am satisfied the lack of clear information on this bill was fault which caused Mr X and Mrs Y avoidable confusion.
• A copy of this revised bill in June 2021. This seems to have been in response to a request from Mr X and Mrs Y for information about what they owed.
56. The bills for Property B were:
• A first bill for 2021/22. This clearly showed Mr X and Mrs Y’s liability after moving to Property B.
• Four copy bills over the next two months. As explained above, these were sent in response to requests for access to their online account.
• Another copy bill in June 2021. Again, this appears to have been sent as part of the Council’s response to Mr X and Mrs Y’s complaint.
57. The bills addressed to “Council Tax Payer” had a different account number as they related to the period of time before Mr X and Mrs Y moved into the property. The Council did not know the name of the liable person before Mr X and Mrs Y moved in, so it had no choice but to send the bill to “Council Tax Payer”. The Council did not expect Mr X and Mrs Y to pay these bills.
58. It was not fault for the Council to issue these bills in the way it did. However, these bills did not include dates they related to. Instead, they just included ‘balance brought forward’. I am satisfied the lack of detail on those bills was fault which caused avoidable confusion for Mr X and Mrs Y.

f) bailiffs did not share paperwork about the recovery action

59. The evidence shows the bailiffs wrote to Mr X and Mrs Y about each debt and sent them the required Notices of Enforcement. Although Mr X and Mrs Y wanted more information, there was no obligation on the enforcement agents to provide this.

g) the bailiffs acted inappropriately

60. Having considered the information provided by the Council and the enforcement agents, I do not consider the level of contact from the bailiffs to be inappropriate.
61. While Mr X and Mrs Y had payment arrangements in place, bailiffs suspended further contact. When the payments stopped, the bailiffs resumed action to recover the debts. This included sending Mr X and Mrs Y information about the bailiffs’ powers and the possible consequences of non-payment.

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Agreed action

62. Within one month of my final decision, the Council will:
• apologise to Mr X and Mrs Y for the avoidable confusion and frustration it caused in how it responded to their requests for information and complaint;
• pay Mr X and Mrs Y £150 each to recognise this avoidable frustration and confusion;
• send Mr X and Mrs Y a detailed breakdown of the amounts they still owe. This should be broken down by year and for each year they owe council tax the breakdown should include:
1. the total council tax liability for the year;
2. any legal and enforcement fees added;
3. all payments made and credited against that year’s debt; and
4. the resulting, current balance.

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Final decision

63. I have completed my investigation. There was fault in how the Council provided information to Mr X and Mrs Y about their arrears, and how it responded to their complaint. This caused them avoidable frustration and confusion, for which the Council should apologise and pay them a financial remedy. The Council should also provide clear information to Mr X and Mrs Y about their arrears.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

64. I have not investigated how the Council managed Mr X and Mrs Y’s council tax account before April 2020. We can only consider events which happened more than 12 months before someone complaints to us if we decide there are good reasons. Mr X and Mrs Y knew about their historic arrears in 2019 and there are no good reasons why they could not have complained to us about these debts sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman