Summary: There is no evidence that Mr X contacted the Council to agree a payment arrangement before the case was passed to enforcement agents for recovery. There is no evidence of fault in the actions of the enforcement agents and so the fees incurred are correctly owed.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council was wrong to instruct enforcement agents to recover council tax arrears as he had already contacted the Council and started making payments.
2. Mr X says he wrongly incurred extra charges.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. 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

5. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided;
• discussed the issues with the complainant;
• sent my draft decision to both the Council and the complainant and invited their comments.

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What I found

6. Mr X had council tax arrears for the year 2018/19. The Council took recovery action in 2018 for the unpaid amounts, issuing a summons on 6 September followed by the courts issuing a liability order on 27 September 2018. In January 2019 the Council set up a special payment arrangement for Mr X to pay £100 per month but he did not make the agreed payments.
7. Mr X contacted the Council on 16 May 2019. He was no longer living at the address to which the arrears applied. He was offered a payment plan of a payment of 50% of the outstanding balance with the remainder on a monthly basis. Mr X was not in agreement with this and so the Council referred the case to enforcement agents.
8. The Council says the case was returned by the enforcement agents 1 on 29 July 2019 as they were unable to recover the arrears. The Council referred the case to enforcement agents 2 on 7 August 2019 and it returned the case to the Council on 24 March 2021 after not recovering the arrears. The Council passed the case to enforcement agents 3 on 25 May 2021.
9. On 22 March 2021 Mr X made a payment of £75.25. He then made four payments of £50 in April, May, June and July. These payments were made by standing order. On 5 August 2021 he made a payment of £450 by credit card. The standing order continued with payments in August, September, October and November 2021.
10. Mr X says that he contacted the Council in April 2021 to make an arrangement to pay off the arrears at £50 per month. The Council says it has no record of any contact with Mr X in April 2021 and that it did not agree a payment plan for £50 per month.
11. Enforcement agents acting on behalf of the Council, contacted Mr X by text message on 4 June 2021. The Council says the agents also sent a letter and telephoned him on that date. The enforcement agents sent further letters on 11 and 18 June stating it would visit the property to seize goods if the amount remained unpaid. The letters also set out the costs that could be incurred. Enforcement agents visited Mr X’s property on 5 August. This is the same day Mr X made a payment of £450.
12. Mr X says that after clearing the arrears with the £450 payment, he forgot to cancel the standing order and so four further payments amounting to £200 were paid. He contacted the Council in December asking it to refund the £200 which he considered was an overpayment and therefore a credit.
13. The Council contacted the enforcement agents seeking an invoice for fees as Mr X’s account was in credit of £199.98. The enforcement agents advised its fees were £310. It appears the Council originally agreed to repay the credit to Mr X but reversed this decision after contact with the enforcement agents. As a result Mr X made a complaint.
14. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaint saying it had followed the correct collection process to recover the arrears and that it had acted correctly in passing the credit to the enforcement agents for fees due. It also advised that he still owed £110.02 and he should contact the enforcement agents to make the payment.

Analysis

15. Mr X complains the Council wrongly passed his case to enforcement agents as he had made a payment arrangement and started making payments. The information provided indicates the case was originally passed to enforcement agents in July 2019. I am satisfied the Council followed the correct recovery process following the issuing of the bill in March 2019. This was well before Mr X began making payments in April 2021.
16. When I spoke to Mr X he told me that he had contacted the Council in April 2021 before making payments. However, the Council says it has no record of this. While it seems likely Mr X would make contact rather than just start making payments after such a long period of time, there is no evidence to support his position. Therefore, I find no fault in the Council’s decision to instruct enforcement agents to collect the outstanding balance on Mr X’s account.
17. The information provided shows the enforcement agent made contact with Mr X several times before visiting his property. There was contact by letter, email, telephone and text message. There is no evidence to suggest Mr X responded to any of these contacts in order to discuss his payments and outstanding arrears. As the enforcement agents made appropriate contact there is nothing to suggest any fault in its actions or the fees charged.
18. While I appreciate that Mr X is frustrated that he considers he overpaid the arrears and is unhappy with the level of fees charged by the enforcement agents, there is no evidence of fault in this case.

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Final decision

19. I will now complete my investigation as there is no evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman