Summary: Mr X complains on behalf of his mother, Mrs Y. Mr X says the Council has not provided a full refund for monies owed following the re-banding of Mrs Y property. I have concluded my investigation having made a finding of fault by the Council. A further refund is owed for the period concerning 1993 to 1998, and the Council’s original calculation caused an injustice to Mr X. Although the Council has contacted Mr X and offered to recalculate the refund that is owed, Mr X spent much time and trouble chasing the Council on the matter to little avail. The Council has agreed to our recommendations.

The complaint

1. Mr X, who complains on behalf of his mother, Mrs Y, says the Council has failed to refund all monies owed following the re-banding of her property. Mr X says the Council has only provided a partial refund and not for the entire period between 1993 and 1998. Mr X would like the Council to provide a full refund.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I spoke with Mr X and considered the information he provided. I also considered the information the Council provided in response to my enquiries. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered all comments put forward.

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What I found

Relevant guidance and legislation

Council Tax

5. Council Tax is a local taxation system used in England, Scotland and Wales. It is a tax on property, which was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992.

Council Tax - Banding

6. Every domestic property has a council tax band. This is decided by the Valuation Office, which is part of Government.

Class E exemption

7. This exemption applies to unoccupied dwellings where the owner or tenant of a dwelling has their sole or main residence (their home) in a residential care home, nursing home, hospital or hostel in which they are receiving care or treatment. 

Class U exemption

8. If a dwelling is only occupied by people who are classed as "severely mentally impaired" it is exempt from Council Tax; however, this is only the case if the person whose name appears on the bill lives in the dwelling and is also classed "severely mentally impaired".

Council Tax Benefit

9. Council Tax Benefit was a means-tested rebate that potentially rebated up to all of a claimant's council tax bill. Council Tax Benefit was abolished in April 2013.

Background

10. In 2016, Mr X received a property and financial affairs lasting power of attorney for his mother, Mrs Y. Mrs Y lived at Property A until 2020 before she moved into care.

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What happened

11. I have included a summary of some of the key events in this complaint. This is not intended to be a comprehensive account of everything that took place.
12. In June 2020, the Council closed Mrs Y’s council tax account. The Council issued a refund of approximately £100.
13. Later in June 2020, it applied an exemption Class E concerning the years 2019/2020 and 2020/2021. The Council issued a refund of approximately £900
14. In August 2020, a further reduction exemption Class U was applied for the year 2019/2020. The Council issued a refund of approximately £245.
15. In April 2021, Mr X received a notice of alteration from the Valuation Office Agency. Mr X was informed that the band for Property A had been altered from G to F, effective from April 1993.
16. Later in April 2021, Mr X wrote to the Council to inform it of the change, and requested a refund backdated to April 1993.
17. At the end of April 2021, the Council issued a refund of approximately £2,000, for the period beginning 1998 to 2019. The Council wrote to Mr X to inform him of the refund.
18. In November 2021, Mr X wrote to the Council to query its calculation. The Council wrote back to Mr X in December 2021 detailing how it had calculated the refund. The calculation covered the period beginning April 1998 to April 2019.
19. In December 2021, Mr X wrote to the Council to query whether a refund was due for the period between April 1993 and April 1998. The Council did not respond to Mr X.
20. Mr X contacted the Council again in February 2022 chasing a response. The Council asked Mr X to provide evidence that council tax had been paid during this period.
21. Mr X wrote to the Council again in May 2022 to inform it that he believed a refund was due for the period between April 1993 and April 1998. The Council again asked Mr X to provide evidence that council tax had been paid during this period.
22. Mr X again chased a response from the Council in October 2022.
23. In November 2022, the Council wrote to Mr X to inform him that Mrs Y was in receipt of Council Tax Benefit and so no refund was due for the period concerning April 1993 to April 1996. The Council said an amount of approximately £225 was owed for the period concerning April 1996 to April 1998.
24. As part of my investigation, I asked the Council to provide a breakdown of its calculation. The Council said that on preparation of the calculation, it came to its attention that no refund had been provided for the period concerning April 1996 to April 1998. The Council wrote to Mr X in January 2023 to arrange to provide the refund.
25. The Council also said that it had come to its attention that Mrs Y was not in receipt of Council Tax Benefit for the period concerning April 1993 to April 1996, and that a refund would be due.

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Analysis

Did the Council calculate the refund correctly?

1998-2019

26. After the Council were informed by Mr X that Property A had been re-banded by the Valuation Office Agency, it provided Mr X with a refund for the period concerning 1998 to 2019.
27. Mr X does not dispute the Council’s calculation for the period concerning 1998 to 2019. Further, I have reviewed the Council’s calculation and have not found any error in how it arrived at its figure. The Council has already provided a refund for this period.

1993-1998

28. When the Valuation Officer Agency wrote to Mr X in April 2021, it issued a notice of alteration regarding the banding of the property, the date was effective from April 1993.
29. After Mr X received a refund from the Council, he queried whether a refund was due for the period concerning 1993 to 1998, but the Council did not immediately respond to Mr X. After Mr X chased the Council for a response, it asked him to provide evidence that Mrs Y had paid council tax during this period.  The Council says it applied the wrong procedure at the time and mistakenly requested further evidence from Mr X which it did not need. 
30. The Council acknowledges that it holds archived information from April 1993 to 1998 and should have provided Mr X with a breakdown for April 1993 to April 1998. The Council accept that it was at fault for failing to provide Mr X with the breakdown. When the Council provided Mr X with a breakdown in November 2022, it informed him that Mrs Y had been in receipt of Council Tax Benefit and was not due a refund for the period concerning 1993 to 1996. The Council said a refund was due for the period concerning 1996 to 1998. The Council says its diary reflected that the refund had been actioned at the time.
31. After I raised enquiries with the Council and asked it to provide a breakdown of its calculation, it came to its attention that it had not provided Mr X with the refund for the period concerning 1996 to 1998. The Council immediately wrote to Mr X to arrange to refund him the monies due for this period.
32. It also came to the attention of the Council that Mrs Y was in fact not in receipt of Council Tax Benefit for the period concerning 1993 to 1996. The Council wrote to Mr X to inform him that it would recalculate the refund based on a percentage of what was awarded in this period and provide him with the calculation.
33. Although the Council has contacted Mr X to resolve the matter and is in the process of calculating the additional refund that is owed, its original calculation was insufficient, and its determination that Mrs Y was in receipt of Council Tax Benefit was incorrect, and here I have made a finding of fault. This caused Mr X an injustice as monies should have been refunded to Mr X but were not.
34. Further, when Mr X did query the Council on the matter, the Council did not immediately respond to Mr X, and so he had to chase the Council on at least two separate occasions for a response. The Council says delays in responding to Mr X were due to a backlog of work at the time. Mr X has endured both time and trouble chasing the Council for a refund that it had failed to originally calculate correctly.

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Agreed action

35. To resolve the matter, the Council will:
1. Calculate and award any refund due to Mr X for the period concerning 1993 to 1996.
2. Refund the monies owed to Mr X for the period concerning 1996 to 1998, that the Council has yet to pay.
3. Pay Mr X an additional amount of £150 for the time and trouble spent chasing the Council for a calculation, response, and refund for monies that were owed following the re-banding of Property A.
36. The Council has agreed to complete action a-c within one month of the Ombudsman’s final decision. The Council should provide evidence it has completed these actions also.

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Final decision

37. I have concluded my investigation having made a finding of fault by the Council. A further refund is owed for the period concerning 1993 to 1998, and the Council’s original calculation caused an injustice to Mr X. Although the Council has contacted Mr X and offered to recalculate the refund that is owed, Mr X spent much time and trouble chasing the Council on the matter to little avail. The Council has agreed to the recommendations.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman