London Borough of Havering (21 016 790)

Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 21 Mar 2022

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about errors by the Council in the handling of the complainant’s council tax. This is because the Council has offered a satisfactory remedy.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains about the Council’s handling of his council tax. He was upset to receive a letter that referred to him as having died and says the service provided by the Council was poor. Mr X wants more compensation, a meaningful apology and a revised complaints procedure.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. 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 the Council has offered a fair remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence, the letter the Council sent to Mr X in error, and confirmation the Council will increase its goodwill payment to £150. I also considered our Assessment Code and invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

  1. In September Mr X registered for council tax. The information he gave was slightly unclear so the Council made a note to send a property enquiry form in October. In the meantime Mr X provided more information which allowed the Council to set up the account. In October an officer intended to send the property form as planned. Unfortunately the officer did not check the notes which would have shown no more information was needed and the officer then sent the wrong form. Instead of sending the property enquiry form the Council sent a letter addressed to Mr X’s executors which referred to Mr X as having died. Mr X was upset by this letter not least because a close relative is receiving end of life care.
  2. In response to his complaint the Council explained the letter had been sent in error and it explained what had led to the error. It apologised several times and said the officer passed on apologises. The Council said it had spoken to the officer and the error was addressed as a training need. It said it had reminded staff of the importance of checking letters and said it would be doing more monitoring. The Council apologised because Mr X had reported rudeness and poor service from the contact centre. The Council offered £50 for the inconvenience and delays. I asked the Council to increase the financial payment. The Council offered to increase it to £150.
  3. The Council made an error but I will not start an investigation because it has provided a satisfactory response. It has explained what went wrong, apologised several times and explained the steps it will take to stop the error from being repeated. It has also apologised for the service Mr X received from the contact centre. It will pay £150 which is within the range we recommend for errors causing distress and upset. There is nothing more we would ask the Council to do.
  4. Mr X has complained about the complaint handling but the Council has provided an appropriate response. And, it is has already provided a meaningful apology which including passing on an apology from the officer who made the mistake.

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Final decision

  1. I will not investigate this complaint because the Council has offered a satisfactory remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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