Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s recovery of council tax arrears from Mr X. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council issuing a summons for unpaid council tax. He says his family is struggling financially and he was not given a warning about the summons.

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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 or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

3. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X says the Council served him with a summons for unpaid council tax without giving him a reasonable chance to make payments. The Council told him that he missed two payments and was sent a reminder and a then a third payment was also missed. Mr X made some payments but they were credited to his payment plan for unpaid tax from the previous year.
7. Mr X says he believed the Council had credited his energy rebate to his account so he owed less. The Council says it issued the rebate as a voucher which was cashed at a Post Office so it was clear this was not connected to council tax arrears. It told Mr X he did not mention any hardship until after the summons was issued and the lack of contact led to the summons action. Had he done so he would have been directed to advice about benefits and reductions available. He was previously ineligible for benefits due to earned income.
8. Mr X says he was unable to attend a pre-court hearing online because the online portal function did not allow him access in his allotted time. The Council says the error messages which he encountered on his phone were due to the time slot being missed. Mr X disputes this.
9. Councils can issue a summons after issuing at least one reminder. Mr X was issued with the correct reminders but did not make payments to his current year’s account. We have no jurisdiction to consider court proceedings which begin with the issue of a summons.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s recovery of council tax arrears from Mr X. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman