Adur District Council (21 009 578)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 15 Nov 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax liability. It would be reasonable for Mr X to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.
The complaint
- Mr X is the administrator of an estate which includes a property whose owner passed away in 2020. He says the Council have incorrectly charged council tax for a period when the property was unoccupied following the owner’s death.
- Mr X also says the Council failed to follow its own complaints procedure.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
- The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X has the right to appeal against the council tax liability at the Valuation Tribunal.
- The Valuation Tribunal is a free and easy to use service set up by the government to consider such disputes. Therefore, it would be reasonable for Mr X to use this service.
- In cases where we do not investigate the matters in a complaint, we do not separately investigate the Council’s complaint handling process.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it would be reasonable for him to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman