Summary: Miss X complains about the Council’s failure to notify her of Council Tax arrears and subsequent enforcement action. We have not found the Council to be at fault because it contacted Miss X at her last known address.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the Council’s failure to notify her of council tax arrears and subsequent enforcement action.
2. She also complains about how the Council handled the case, including its failure to acknowledge that her autism made the complexities of her account difficult to understand.
3. She says this caused significant distress, particularly as the costs of enforcement have increased the amount owed.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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)
5. 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

6. I reviewed the information provided by Miss X.
7. I made enquiries of the Council and reviewed the relevant law.
8. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I have considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Council tax

9. The Local Government Finance Act 1992 gives local authorities the power to levy and collect a dwelling tax. This is known as council tax.
10. 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.
11. To use the various powers available to it to recover unpaid council tax, a council must apply to the Magistrates Court for a liability order against those it believes are liable. Before a council can pursue someone for council tax, it must send a demand. It must also issue at least one reminder notice before issuing a summons for a liability order in the magistrates’ court. Once a council has obtained a liability order it can take recovery action.
12. A liability order gives a council legal powers to take enforcement action to collect the money owed. 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.
13. If someone does not pay the council tax, and the costs, the council can ask bailiffs (also referred to as enforcement agents) to collect the debt. Bailiffs charge fees which also must be paid.
14. The law says that councils can serve a document about billing or enforcement of council tax by delivering it in person, leaving it at the person’s proper address, or sending it by post to their proper address. Proper address is taken to be the last known address. There is no need to use registered or recorded post. Unless the contrary is proved, a document is deemed to have been served by post when it would be delivered in the ordinary course of post. (Local Government Act 1972 (Section 233); Regulation 35(2) of The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992; The Interpretation Act 1978 (Section 7))
15. There is no definition of ‘vulnerable’ in the law or government guidance. The law and guidance do not say debts may not be recovered from vulnerable debtors, but that such cases once identified should be handled with care.

What happened

16. Between March 2020 and May 2021, Miss X lived at Property A with her partner, Miss Y. In April 2021, Miss Y phoned to the Council to say she was moving home and that she would no longer be liable for council tax after a certain date. Miss X did not provide details of her new address, Property B. She also cancelled the relevant direct debit.
17. Shortly afterwards, the Council sent its final council tax bill by post to Property A. Miss X says she did not receive this letter and so was unaware any money was owed.
18. In May 2021, the landlord of Property B contacted the Council to provide details of his new tenant. The Council says the landlord incorrectly spelt Miss X’s surname. This meant the Council did not reconcile Miss X’s two council tax accounts. When Miss Y later contacted the Council about problems with the council tax arrears at Property B, officers failed to alert her there was also money owed in respect of Property A.
19. The Council continued to write to Miss X at Property A about the outstanding council tax. As no response was received the Council obtained a liability order. This in turn led to bailiffs being instructed to enforce the debt. The first Miss X knew about the matter was when she was contacted by the bailiffs after they were instructed in July 2021. By this time the original debt had increased significantly due to court and bailiff fees.
20. Miss X complained to the Council. Her complaint was not upheld because:

• the relevant regulations did not allow the Council to issue the final council tax bill by email.
• it was standard practice for final bills to be sent to the last known address, in this case, Property A.
• the Council was unable to reconcile the two accounts based on Miss X having the same or similar name to that relating to Property A.

21. Miss X brought her complaint to the Ombudsman because she felt she had been treated unfairly, particularly as felt she had acted appropriately by telling the Council about her proposed move. She was also frustrated because officers had given confusing and unclear information that she struggled to understand because she has autism. Miss X is clear she did not object to paying the council tax outstanding on the Property A account and has already done so. However, she feels she should not have to incur the additional costs that she argues only arose because the Council failed to tell her about the debt and missed several opportunities to do so.

Analysis

22. The case records confirm the Council wrote to Miss X at her last known address informing her that council tax was owed. The letter was sent while she was still living there and was not returned by the post office. The Council was not allowed, by law to email Miss X about the account. The Council acted correctly here.
23. I have seen a bill dated March 2021 addressed to Miss X at Property A setting out her council tax liability for the next financial year, 2021-2022. This said there was still an outstanding balance on that account from the financial year 2020-2021. Previous bills confirm some instalment payments had not been made. Based on this evidence, I am satisfied Miss X should have had some knowledge that council tax may be owed when she left Property A.
24. I acknowledge Miss X did not receive any subsequent correspondence about the debt once she moved to Property B in May 2021. In the absence of a forwarding address being provided by Miss X, the Council was entitled to write to her at Property A.
25. I also accept the Council’s explanation about why it did not reconcile the two separate accounts for Property A and Property B. I have seen no evidence to support the Council’s assertion Miss X’s landlord misspelt her name when he called the Council. The Council’s case note from this call only recorded that he made contact with no further detail. I cannot rule out the possibility a council officer misspelt her name when setting up the new account. However, even if this mistake had not occurred, the outcome would have been the same because the Council was unable to assume it was the same person on both accounts.
26. It is clear from the records I have seen that Miss X and Miss Y were understandably confused by what happened, particularly as they believed they had acted correctly and left Property A without any council tax arrears. Their confusion was increased because there were also problems with their Property B council tax account, including Miss X’s misspelt name. However, I am satisfied the officers acted appropriately, particularly as the Council was unaware of Miss X’s autism until she raised this during her later complaint in November 2021.
27. My assessment is that their frustration mainly arose because the Council would not change its position about the additional enforcement costs. The Council followed the correct process in pursuing the debt and was legally entitled to add these costs. The Council was not at fault.

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Final decision

28. I have not found the Council to be at fault when it took enforcement action against Miss X for unpaid council tax. On this basis, I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman