Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax billing because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains that billing errors by the Council have led to council tax arrears which he does not owe. Mr X wants the Council to apologise and stop the enforcement action.

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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 council tax statements. 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. Mr X says the Council wrongly billed him twice, within a matter of days, and is pursuing him for council tax arrears he does not owe. Mr X says he has paid by direct debit for years. He also says the Council knows its actions are wrong but will not admit the error; this, he says, is why the Council refused to send him the copies of council tax bills he requested.
5. In response to his complaint the Council agreed Mr X paid by direct debit on the 28th of the month until July 2020 but the payments then stopped. The Council issued a new bill in August 2020 requiring cash payments on the first of the month. This payment arrangement remains and a due date of the first of the month has been stated on all subsequent bills. Mr X says he did not get the August 2020 bill which is why he continued to pay towards the end of the month.
6. The Council explained that, since August 2020, Mr X has made payments but they are often late and some instalments have been missed. This has resulted in the Council taking court action and Mr X incurring costs. The Council explained it withdrew one court summons but then issued another a few months later because Mr X missed further payments. The Council said it sent Mr X statements and electronic copies of the council tax bills.
7. I have considered the complaint correspondence and the council tax bills/statements and there is no suggestion of a billing error. Mr X paid by direct debit until 2020 but since then he has been required to pay by other methods on the first of the month. In each subsequent year he has started the new financial year with arrears and he had two instalments due a few days apart because he had to pay both arrears and the current council tax. The Council tried to help Mr X by withdrawing a summons and making payment plans but there have been further missed and late payments, and broken payment plans, which led to enforcement action. The Council sent Mr X the information he requested but the bills were in a different format to what he was expecting.
8. Mr X says he did not get the August 2020 bill so did not know he needed to change the payment date. However, the Council sent the bill to the correct address and is not responsible for any problems with the post. But, in any case, all the subsequent bills showed a payment date of the first of the month and stated Mr X had arrears. Mr X denies he set up or broke a payment plan but I have seen the letter setting up the arrangement and that a summons was issued because a payment was missed.
9. Although Mr X denies late or missing payments I have cross referenced the complaint correspondence with the documents and there is no suggestion of fault by the Council and no reason to start an investigation.

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Final decision

10. We will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman