Summary: We found fault by the Council on Miss K’s complaint of it cancelling her council tax direct debit and account. It failed to provide some evidence, delayed acting on her concern about suspected fraud, and delayed giving her a full explanation of what happened. It also delayed reinstating her account. The agreed action remedies the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Miss K complains about the Council:
1. wrongly cancelling her direct debit on her council tax account in June 2022 when it received incorrect information about her tenancy ending;
2. failing to respond to her contact about it for more than two months; and
3. not explaining how the resulting underpayment on her account will be resolved.
2. As a result of these failures, her account fell into arrears as she did not make payments for three months leaving her stressed and frustrated.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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)
4. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered all the information Miss K sent, along with the notes I made of our telephone conversation, and the Council’s response to my enquiries. Some of the information received needs to remain confidential as it contains information about third parties. This means I cannot disclose it or refer to it directly. I sent a copy of my draft decision to Miss K and the Council. I considered their responses.

Back to top

What I found

6. Miss K rented her flat from a private landlord and paid her council tax by direct debit. At the time, she worked for the agents (the agent) that managed the property on behalf of the landlord.
7. In June 2022, the Council closed her council tax account. This was because it was told there was a change of tenancy. The Council received an online form for her address, a copy of which I have seen. The form gave correct information including the landlord’s name. The Council later told Miss K it believed these details were taken from HM Land Registry records. It also received a further form setting up an online account.
8. It refunded her £110.73 the same month and said it sent her a closing bill. The Council provided a copy of this closing bill which sets out the calculation period from April to May 2022 and referred to a ‘Refund By Bacs’. Miss K said she never received it. When she received the refund, she assumed it was a government cost-of-living payment. This is because she had previously received such a payment.
9. I have seen an email the Council sent the agent asking about the new tenants moving in which also asked for a forwarding address for Miss K. The Council said it received no reply. In response to my draft decision, the Council explained it did not need a forwarding address as Miss K’s balance was in credit.
10. In early September, Miss K realised direct debits were not coming out of her bank account for council tax. She claims the Council never told her it had cancelled her direct debit. Miss K emailed the Council, asking it for a copy of her council tax statement as she was confused. This was because she received a refund in June and no further direct debits were taken.
11. She chased the Council two weeks later. The Council’s response told her it closed her account from May and why it had done so. It asked her to confirm the names of all tenants and provide a copy of her current tenancy agreement.
12. Miss K replied wondering if the non-payments were to do with an issue she had with the electoral register a few months before. The Council’s Electoral Roll team had notified her of someone else listed as living in the flat. She corrected this at the time.
13. Miss K chased the Council for a response and asked it to reinstate her direct debit so she could pay her council tax as she was now in arrears. The Council said it called the agent asking for a call back, but none was made. I have seen no evidence of this call.
14. In response to my draft decision, the Council explained Miss K’s initial contact was handled by a contractor working on its behalf.
15. In October, she formally complained to the Council about its actions. She was unhappy that despite raising this issue two months before, she had received nothing from the Council about it. By this point, she had not paid council tax for three months. The Council referred the case to the police.
16. In November, the Council sent her its stage 1 response under its complaints procedure. It accepted her case should have been flagged up as needing urgent attention in September for which it apologised. It explained it received an online form in June saying there was a new tenant in the property. An officer emailed the letting agent to confirm the date Miss K left the property. The Council also told her it had now acted to reinstate her account and direct debit. She would receive a new bill within a few days.
17. The Council sent her its stage 2 response under its complaints procedure later that month. It apologised for the delays rectifying the closure of her account. Its teams were busy dealing with energy rebates. It again told her why it had closed her account and about the online forms it received setting up a new account. It referred this situation to its fraud service to investigate. It also offered her the chance to spread the missed payments in the next financial year and reinstated her account and direct debits.
18. Miss K was distressed with the time it took the Council to respond to her query and explain what had happened. She was also unhappy the Council failed to properly check whether she had ended her tenancy.
19. Miss K is concerned as it left her £816 in arrears. The Council agreed to her usual payments of £102 each month until we reach a decision on her complaint.
20. In response to my draft decision, the Council explained it had used additional remote resourcing from its contractor to help with workloads through various government grant schemes run over the last three years. It accepted while all efforts were made to respond to customers during this period, there were some inevitable delays.

My findings

21. I found fault on this complaint. In reaching this view, I took the following into account:
1. While I cannot divulge the contents of some of the documents I have seen from the Council, I can say the online forms submitted about the false new tenancy did not contain any personal information about Miss K.
2. When it received the online forms, the Council failed to chase the agent when it did not respond to its email about the new tenants and a forwarding address for Miss K. Had it done so, it would have established early on that this was not a genuine change of tenancy. This is fault. This failure caused injustice to Miss K. Had the Council pursued the agent and made contact, it would have discovered there were no new tenants. The problems Miss K went on to face would have been avoided.

I considered the Council’s argument in response to my draft decision that it did not need the forwarding address anyway as her council tax account was in credit. While correct, there is no evidence showing the Council reached this decision on this basis at the time.

3. The Council has now provided a copy of the closing bill it sent to her in June. On balance, I consider the Council sent it. Why Miss K did not receive it I am unable to say.
4. There was no evidence provided to support its claim of an officer calling the agent in September.
5. The Council accepted it should have dealt with her case as urgent when Miss K made contact with it in September. The failure to do so amounts to fault. The injustice this caused her included a delay to the reinstatement of her council tax account and direct debits.
6. While I accept the difficulties the Council had administering the government’s energy scheme, it was slow to respond to some of her emails and fully explain what had happened. This is fault. The injustice this caused her included stress, frustration, and inconvenience.
7. The Council also accepted it was slow to take steps to resolve the problem so she could make direct debit payments to her account. I am satisfied the delay to reinstate her account and direct debits amounts to fault. The injustice it caused to her included stress, frustration, and inconvenience, as well as allowing the arrears to build up.

Back to top

Agreed action

22. I considered our guidance on remedies.
23. I also considered the Council’s apologies already given for failing to: give her case the urgent attention it needed when she made contact in September; respond promptly to her queries and give her a full explanation of what happened; reinstate her account and direct debit sooner than it did.
24. I took account of Miss K’s own actions too. While I appreciate she may have been confused about the nature of the refund she received in June, she could have asked the Council about it. She could have also identified a problem with her account in June when the direct debit payments were cancelled. It also means she had the benefit of the money in her account which otherwise would have been paid to the Council.
25. The Council agreed to carry out the following action within four weeks of the final decision on this complaint:
1. Send Miss K a written apology for failing to chase the agent following its email sent on 27 June 2022.
2. Issue guidance to relevant staff reminding them all required evidence is provided in relation to Ombudsman cases.
3. Issue a briefing to all staff and contractors about identifying possible fraud cases and what action should be taken if there is a suspected fraud, especially in cases where customers contact it to alert it to cancelled direct debits or receipt of final bills where information claiming the ending of residency has been received.
4. Issue a reminder to all revenues staff and contractors of the need to reinstate direct debit instructions quickly where accounts have been closed incorrectly to avoid arrears accumulating.
5. Agree a mutually acceptable arrangement with Miss K for the repayment of arrears.
26. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

Back to top

Final decision

27. I found fault on Miss K’s complaint against the Council. The agreed action remedies the injustice caused.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman