Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a disputed council tax charge in 2017. This is because there is insufficient evidence of injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council wrongly charged council tax in 2017 and did not resolve the issue until 2022. In the meantime, the Council sent a court summons which caused anxiety. Mr X wants compensation.

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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 any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained. (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. 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. The Council made Mr X liable for the council tax on a property from September to November 2017. Mr X did not pay the council tax and the Council issued a court summons in April 2018. Mr X says this caused him anxiety.
5. Mr X says he pursued the Council from 2017 although this is disputed by the Council. It is agreed he contacted the Council in April 2021 to dispute the charge and provide new information. Mr X then complained about the Council’s delay in responding.
6. The Council reviewed the account in August 2022. It changed the council tax decision so that Mr X was not liable for the two months in 2017. It apologised for the delay in responding and removed the court costs that had been added in 2018. The Council refunded £92 which was the amount due after the council tax had been revised and the costs removed.
7. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of injustice. The Council removed the council tax liability and the costs and issued a refund. There is no financial loss and, while I appreciate receiving a summons may cause some distress, it does not represent a level of injustice requiring an investigation. Mr X says the Council had his money for five years but he did not provide the evidence allowing the Council to change the liability until 2021. There was a delay by the Council in responding in 2021/22 but, while not ideal, there is not enough injustice to require an investigation.

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Final decision

8. We will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman