Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council should issue a council tax refund from 2001 because it misadvised the complainant. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because the complainant could have used her appeal rights.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mrs X, complains the Council wrongly charged council tax from 2001 and did not tell her she should not have been paying anything. Mrs X wants a council tax review from 2001 and a refund.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
3. 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)
4. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax support.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code and invited Mrs X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

6. Mrs X is a carer for a disabled member of her household. She says the Council advised her of a 25% council tax reduction but did not tell her she should not be paying council tax because she received Income Support.
7. The Council explained that Mrs X received council tax support (CTS) from 2007 to 2016. CTS is a benefit that helps people pay their council tax. The claim ended in 2016 because Mr X started work. The family reclaimed Income Support in 2017 but Mrs X did not reapply for CTS until July 2018. The Council awarded CTS from July 2018 and backdated the claim for six months. The policy says a claim can be backdated for a maximum of six months. The Council said Mrs X could have used her appeal rights if she disagreed with any of the CTS decisions. It apologised if she had been poorly advised but said she would have been aware of CTS due to the previous claim.
8. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because Mrs X could have used her appeal rights. The Council ended the claim in 2016 and Mrs X could have appealed if she thought that decision was wrong. And, as Mrs X had previously claimed CTS, she would have been aware of this benefit when the family reclaimed Income Support in 2017. The Council could not re-award CTS any sooner because Mrs X did not reapply until 2018 and the Council has awarded the maximum period of backdating.
9. Mrs X wants a council tax review from 2001. But, she received benefit from 2007 and it is too late to investigate matters that occurred before 2007. The Council destroys records after six years so it would be impossible to find out what happened between 2001 to 2007.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because Mrs X could have used her appeal rights.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman