Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the complainant not receiving a council tax bill. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and insufficient evidence of injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, says the Council did not send her a council tax bill and only responded after she complained. She says the Council did not answer emails and did not care about her situation because she pays by direct debit. Ms X wants compensation and for the Council to acknowledge its service failure.

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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, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

4. Ms X contacted the Council on 11 April to say she had not received her council tax bill. On 19 April the Council asked for information Ms X had provided in her original email. Ms X responded on the same day but did not get a reply.
5. Ms X complained on 10 May. On 16 and 23 May the Council sent copies of the council tax bill which Ms X again says she did not receive.
6. In response to the complaint the Council explained the bill was posted in March and had not been returned by Royal Mail. It sent another copy of the bill in June which Ms X received. The Council suggested Ms X register for e-billing to avoid problems with the post. The Council apologised for asking for information Ms X had already provided and for not replying to her email of 19 April. The Council said it had responded to Ms X’s complaint within the stated timescale.
7. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. I do not know why Ms X did not get the bills posted in March and May but there is nothing to suggest it is due to fault by the Council and the Council is not responsible for problems with the post. In addition, the Council suggested e-billing as a way of avoiding similar problems in the future. The Council asked for information Ms X had already provided and did not reply to an email; but this is not fault requiring compensation or an investigation.
8. I also will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of injustice. I appreciate Ms X wanted to see her bill so she knew the charge and could be sure her direct debit was correct. But, although Ms X did not see the bill until June there is no evidence this caused an injustice requiring an investigation. There is nothing to suggest the council tax is wrong or that Ms X has suffered a financial loss. Ms X had to spend some time pursuing the matter but everyone can expect to expend some time and energy when complaining and there is nothing in the complaint handling to show she was put to undue time and trouble such that an investigation is needed.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault and injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman