Summary: Miss B complained that the Council failed to allocate council tax payments to her account correctly, failed to discover the error for five months despite providing evidence and failed to offer any payment in recognition of the injustice she was caused. We found fault with the Council’s actions. It has agreed to pay Miss B £250 and improve its procedures for the future.

The complaint

1. Miss B complained that West Northamptonshire Council (the Council) failed to allocate payments collected via an attachment of earnings order to Miss B’s council tax account, failed to discover the error for five months and failed to offer her a payment in recognition of the distress she was caused. Miss B experienced significant frustration and time and trouble in trying to resolve the matter.

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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 have considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant, made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided. Miss B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Council tax recovery

5. The council tax bill for the year is due on 1 April. A council will usually collect payment through monthly instalments. If any instalment is missed, the council will send the liable person a reminder. If a payment is still not made or a further payment missed, then the entire outstanding balance will be due (that is the full amount for the rest of the year).
6. To use the various powers available to it to recover unpaid council tax, a council must apply to the magistrates court for a liability order against those it believes are liable. Once a council has obtained a liability order it can take recovery action.
7. A liability order gives a council the legal power to take enforcement action to collect the money owed. This can include taking deductions from benefits, getting an attachment of earnings (this means deductions are taken directly from earnings by an employer and passed to the council) or using bailiffs. The council can decide which recovery method it wishes to use but it can only use one method for one liability order at one time.

Principles of good administrative practice

8. We have published guidance on good administrative practice since 1993 to show the standards we expect when we investigate the actions of local authorities. We reviewed this document in December 2018 and it includes the following principle:
9. Putting things right
• Acknowledging mistakes and apologising where appropriate.
• Putting mistakes right quickly and effectively.
• Providing clear and timely information on how and when to appeal or complain.
• Operating an effective complaints procedure, which includes offering a fair and appropriate remedy when a complaint is upheld.

What happened

10. Miss B had council tax arrears which she had been repaying via an attachment of earnings. In May 2022 she telephoned and emailed the Council querying bills she had received because the balance had not reduced, despite making regular payments. The Council replied saying her balance was £1623.50 and would be collected by an attachment of earnings order.
11. Miss B queried this again, saying she had paid over £1000.
12. The Council replied on 9 June 2022 saying that she had arrears for 2020/21 of £156.83 and £1446.67 for 2021/22. Miss B emailed back the same day with details of all the payments she had made since June 2021 on both accounts.
13. The Council replied on 20 June 2022 saying that several of the payments she had listed were not showing on her account and it asked for proof of the payments. Miss B provided her payslips the same day. Miss B said she tried to ring up to chase the matter but on two occasions the Council hung up on her. On 29 June 2022 she made a formal complaint.
14. The Council responded on 17 August 2022 just repeating the balance originally given in May and did not respond to Miss B’s evidence that she had made more payments.
15. Miss B escalated her complaint to stage two of the complaints procedure. The Council rang her on 26 September 2022 to say it had identified four payments that had been wrongly allocated. On 14 October 2022 it confirmed that the payments had been allocated to the correct account and the arrears were now cleared.
16. The Council responded formally on 20 October 2022. It apologised for the delay in replying and for the poor service she had received. It gave no further explanation.
17. Miss B complained to us.
18. In response to my enquiries the Council said in May 2022 the officer who dealt with the case re-sent the attachment of earnings order to Miss B’s employer and simply advised Miss B this had been done. The Council considered the officer should have contacted the finance team to confirm the payments were being allocated to the correct account.
19. The Council accepted that its stage one response had been inadequate and did not address the situation, leading to Miss B making a stage two complaint.
20. The Council said the allocation problem was due to Miss B’s bank not providing a remittance so the payment could not be allocated to the correct council-tax payer. The Council requested these and once received, Miss B’s account was cleared.

Analysis

21. The Council took almost four months to correct the allocation of payments to Miss B’s account from the date she provided evidence that she had made the payments. This was far too long and caused Miss B significant frustration and distress. The Council should have investigated the payments shortly after Miss B provided her payslips on 20 June 2022, but did not do so, forcing Miss B to make a formal complaint. This was fault
22. The Council missed another opportunity to resolve the problem when it responded to her stage one complaint. It did not read her correspondence properly and simply confirmed the outstanding balance without addressing any of her concerns. This was fault.
23. It exacerbated the fault by taking seven weeks to respond to her stage one complaint and nine weeks to respond to her stage two complaint when the Council says it will respond at both stages within four weeks. Neither did it offer Miss B any financial remedy for the injustice she was caused.
24. I accept the failure to allocate the payments correctly was due to the bank not providing the correct remittance information. But if the Council had investigated the matter sooner, the problem would have been resolved much more swiftly, saving Miss B from months of uncertainty, frustration and time and trouble.

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Agreed action

25. In recognition of the injustice caused to Miss B, I recommended the Council, within one month of the date of my final decision:
• pays Miss B £250; and
26. within three months:
• reviews the operation of its complaints procedure to ensure responses are provided within the required timescales and that officers responding to complaints have undergone basic training in complaint-handling.
27. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.
28. The Council has agreed to my recommendations.

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Final decision

29. I consider this is a proportionate way of putting right the injustice caused to Miss B and I have completed my investigation on this basis.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman