Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to inform him during a phone call that unless he paid his council tax arrears he would shortly be subject to court proceedings. We do not find fault with the Council as Mr X had not paid council tax for several months and was given sufficient notice in writing that a court summons would be issued if he did not pay the arrears before a certain date.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained that during a phone call, the Council failed to give him adequate notice that he would shortly be issued with a court summons if he did not pay his arrears in full.
2. Mr X complained that he waited over an hour to speak to someone on the phone regarding his council tax and received a poor service and misleading advice.
3. Mr X says this caused him to pay an avoidable £65 court summons fee on top of the arrears he owed.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. If we are satisfied with a council’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

6. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council, including the recording of the telephone call between Mr X and the Council.
7. Mr X and the Council had the opportunity to comment on my draft decision. All comments made were considered before making a final decision.

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What I found

What happened

8. Mr X is a landlord and his rental property was empty from January 2021 to 23 July 2021. As the property owner, Mr X was liable for the council tax at the property during this time.
9. Mr X paid council tax on the rental property from January to March 2021 but after that made no further payments despite the property remaining empty.
10. The Council sent Mr X several bills and reminders but Mr X said he missed some of these as he had moved house.
11. Mr X received a final reminder letter dated 27 July 2021 which said if the arrears were not paid by 12 August 2021 a court summons may be issued.
12. On 2 August 2021 Mr X called the Council regarding the arrears. Mr X said he waited for over an hour to speak to an Advisor on the phone. Mr X told us the Advisor said the Council’s next contact with him would be an amended bill which reflected the fact that tenants had now moved in. He said the Advisor failed during this call to highlight to him that a court summons would be issued soon if he did not make a payment.
13. We were sent a copy of the call recording by the Council. This confirmed Mr X called the Council to let it know he had an outstanding bill he intended to pay but needed his tenants’ recent move-in date reflected in the final amount owed.
14. The Council advised Mr X on the call that it had not received any move-in information from the tenants and offered to amend the bill over the phone if he had the tenants’ information to hand.
15. As Mr X did not have the tenants’ information to hand, the Council advised him that typically the tenants, the landlord or the letting agent would provide the Council with this information. The Council said once it received it, the landlord’s liability for future council tax would end.
16. The tenants informed the Council of their move-in date online on 21 July 2021. However, the online form contained an inaccuracy so this was not automatically processed.
17. The Council says that as this online update was not processed automatically, and due to high workloads because of COVID-19, the tenants’ actual move-in date was not processed on the database until 27 August 2021.
18. The Council says it did not receive any tenant information from the letting agent or the landlord following Mr X’s call, only the information from the tenants.
19. By 31 August 2021 the Council had issued a closing bill and a court summons, because Mr X had still not made any payments towards the council tax arrears.

My findings

20. Mr X says he waited a long time to be put through to an Agent and the evidence supports this. Although potentially frustrating to Mr X, it does not amount to fault.
21. Mr X is also unhappy because he says he received poor and misleading advice from the Council and was not informed in a timely manner that he would receive a court summons for non-payment of council tax.
22. It is reasonable to expect a landlord to be aware of their obligation to pay council tax on property they own when it is not occupied by tenants. Mr X’s rental property was empty. He owed council tax on it which he did not pay. The Council sent him several bills and reminders of the arrears. The bill dated 27 July 2021 advised that if no payment was made by 12 August 2021, he may receive a court summons. Mr X did not make a payment. Therefore, he received a court summons. The Council acted appropriately and was not at fault.
23. The Council provided Mr X with suitable advice during the phone call. It said it needed the tenants’ moving-in date and additional details before it could issue a final bill and to stop Mr X’s ongoing liability. Mr X had the opportunity to provide this information during the call and pay the outstanding amount he owed but did not do so. There was some delay when the tenants provided inaccurate information, but this was not the Council’s fault and, in any case, Mr X still remained liable for the council tax arrears from when the property was empty. There was no fault in the Council’s actions.

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Final decision

24. I have completed my investigation and do not find fault with the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman