Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council delayed issuing a council tax bill and then made unreasonable demands for payment. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, says the Council delayed sending him a council tax bill and then demanded payment over eight months. He says the Council is at fault and should offer a reasonable payment plan.

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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))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and information about the payment plans the Council offered. I also considered our Assessment Code and comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

4. Councils usually ask people to pay their council tax within the financial year.
5. Mr X registered for council tax in April 2021. The Council sent him a bill in July which asked for payments of £229 a month from August to February. The Council has told Mr X that it had to wait for information from the Valuation Office before it could set up the account. The Valuation Office is not part of the Council. Mr X made his first payment in November.
6. Since then the Council has set up many different payment plans. For example, in November it made an arrangement for £150 a month from December to June. It cancelled the plan because Mr X did not keep to the arrangement. The Council set up a new plan in February which asked for £100 a month from April to December. Again, Mr X did not maintain the plan. The Council made a further arrangement in April which asked for monthly payments until December. The Council cancelled it in May because Mr X did not make the payments due in April or May. The current position is that Mr X owes £822 for 2021/22. The Council told Mr X he needs to pay the outstanding council tax to avoid recovery action. If the Council takes recovery action Mr X will incur costs. The Council also told Mr X that, as he registered for council tax, it is reasonable to expect he would have put money aside for the payments.
7. Mr X says he cannot afford to pay more than £120 a month and the Council has not recognised that he also has to pay the council tax for 2022/23. Mr X maintains the Council is being unreasonable.
8. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The delay in issuing the bill was not caused by inaction by the Council but because it was waiting for banding information. Since issuing the bill in July it has made special payment plans with Mr X which have included extending the payment period until December. I appreciate Mr X has to pay the council tax for this year but the period of overlap with this year would have been less if he made more payments in 2021. In addition, the amount the Council has asked for is not excessive and it has allowed an extended time to pay. There is nothing to suggest fault by the Council and there is no reason to start an investigation.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman