Summary: We found no fault on Ms J’s complaint that the Council failed to adjust her council tax account for 2021/22 even though she no longer received universal credit and had queried its bills stating she had nothing to pay. She signed a statement about the need to declare change of circumstances, information about this was on bills received and the Council’s website, and an officer referred to her receiving a discount because of universal credit during a call with her. She did not tell the Council she no longer received it.

The complaint

1. Ms J complains the Council failed to adjust her council tax account for 2021/2022 even though she no longer claimed benefits and queried its bills which said she had nothing to pay; as a result, she is distressed by it now demanding overpaid council tax reduction of almost £5,000 which she cannot afford to pay.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)

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Council tax and council tax reduction schemes

4. The Local Government Finance Act 1992 gives local authorities the power to levy and collect a dwelling tax. This is known as council tax.
5. Council tax reduction (CTR, also known as council tax support) is a discount, not a benefit. If someone is paid too much CTR, the Council can reduce the amount of CTR and so increase the amount of council tax owed. We call these changes CTR reversals. Sometimes reversals are created because the Council has miscalculated the CTR, perhaps ignoring information it had, or using information it should not have used.
6. If the Council’s CTR Scheme says how it deals with challenges to reversals (sometimes called ‘overpayments’) a claimant can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. If the scheme does not say how the Council will deal with CTR reversals the claimant cannot appeal.
7. The Council’s CTR scheme does not mention how it deals with CTR reversals or overpayments.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered all the information Ms J sent, the notes I made of our telephone conversation, and the Council’s response to my enquiries. I sent a copy of my draft decision to Ms J and the Council. I considered Ms J’s response.

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What I found

9. In March 2020, Ms J and her family claimed CTR as they were claiming Universal Credit. The declaration she signed when making the claim said she understood she must tell it straightaway if she had a change of circumstances which might affect her application.
10. In September, her award for Universal Credit ended. Ms J failed to tell the Council about this change of circumstances.
11. In March 2021, she received a council tax bill showing she had nothing to pay for the new financial year. Her bill showed her receiving CTR. She emailed the Council saying their bill showed she had nothing to pay and said, ‘We have been given a complete reduction, and we do not know why’. She had another query about missing payments and asked if someone could call her to discuss.
12. There is a note on the Council’s records of a call an officer made to Ms J. This noted the officer explaining how her CTR was calculated, ‘in line with UC which is why her current bill has been automatically updated’. The Council also sent her a statement showing she received ‘Benefit’ and its amount. This was CTR. This officer was not a benefits assessor. The Council assumed the officer was mainly concerned about her query about two missing payments from her account statement. There was no further communication from Ms J about it.
13. In March 2022, she received another council tax bill showing she had nothing to pay for the new financial year.
14. The following month she emailed the Council saying it did not look correct as it included a full rebate. The Council explained this was because of her CTR claim which was based on her getting Universal Credit. It went on to explain it now learned her Universal Credit had ended in September 2020 and she had failed to report this change of circumstance. If this was correct, she needed to send it copy payslips and a contract of employment so it could assess whether she still qualified.
15. The Council reassessed her claim. In June, it told her it had created an overpayment on her account. This was because she received CTR from September 2020 to which she was not entitled. This amounted to about £5,000. Ms J argued she could not afford to pay it.
16. When she complained, the Council told her it had no record of her previous contact during which she claimed officers told her she had nothing to pay, and the bills sent were correct.

My findings

17. I found no fault on this complaint. In reaching this decision, I took account of the following:
1. The declaration Ms J signed when she applied for CTR referred to her needing to tell it straightaway of any change of circumstances.
2. The bill she received in March 2022 contains a link at the bottom of the page. This links to its website which gives more information about the council tax bill. The website provides another link which allows users to view the back page of the bill. The back page of the bill refers to reporting change in circumstances. It explained this is important where CTR is claimed, especially any changes ‘in your household income’, for example. While I appreciate I have not seen the March 2021 bill, it is usual practice for them to have the same information on the back page every year.
3. On its general website about council tax, there is a section about ‘Moving and change of circumstances’.
4. There is no evidence of the calls Ms J says she made to the Council in response to receiving a bill for a nil balance.
5. There is evidence of one call made to her in April 2021. This records the officer telling her she received CTR in line with Universal Credit. This should have alerted Ms J to the Council having incomplete information as she had not received this since September the previous year. The information the officer gave her indicated the reason for her receiving a nil balance bill was connected to her Universal Credit claim.
6. The officer she spoke to also sent her a letter which enclosed a statement about her account. This clearly shows a benefit credited to her account which again should have alerted her to query what it was and why she was receiving it.
7. There is no evidence in any of her correspondence and contact of her telling the Council she no longer received Universal Credit.

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Final decision

18. I found no fault on Ms J’s complaint against the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman