Summary: Ms X complains about how the Council dealt with her Council Tax account. There is no evidence of fault in how the Council dealt with Ms X’s Council Tax account. However, the Council is at fault in how it dealt with her complaint which caused avoidable time and trouble and frustration to Ms X. The Council has agreed to remedy this injustice by making an apology to Ms X.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains that the Council:

• Charged her for Council Tax before she moved into her property.
• Failed to apply the single person’s discount to her account.
• Notified her that she owes Council Tax arrears but has failed to provide evidence of how these arrears have accrued.
• Delayed in providing a payment card.
• Wrongly told her there would be a liability order hearing on 7 December 2022.
• Failed to respond to a number of her complaints and failed to deal with her complaints in accordance with its complaints procedure.

As a result, Ms X considers she has been caused distress and been put to significant time and trouble.

Back to top

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. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
4. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I have:

• considered the complaint and the information provided by Ms X;
• discussed the issues with Ms X;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the information provided;
• invited Ms X and the Council to comment on the draft decision. I considered the comments received before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Law and guidance

6. The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 cover both the way councils collect payments of council tax and the way councils can recover council tax debt. The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 and associated regulations cover the way bailiffs may recover debts.
7. 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).
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. A council may ask bailiffs to visit a person’s property and seize goods to the value of a council tax debt, if it has a liability order from the magistrates court.

Council’s complaints procedure

11. The Council’s complaint procedure defines a complaint as an allegation that through action or inaction the council, or any of its staff, failed to deliver a service in accordance with the council’s policy or agreed standards of service’.

What happened

12. The following is a summary of the key events relevant to my consideration of the complaint. It does not cover everything that has happened.
13. In October 2021, Ms X completed her purchase of her property. She moved into the property on 22 November 2021.
14. The property did not have a council tax band as it was a new build. In March 2022, the Valuation Office placed the property in band C. The Council then issued Council Tax bills for Ms X’s property for the period 22 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 for the sum of £793.51 and for 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2022 for the sum of £1865.43. I understand Ms X did not receive these bills.
15. The Council reissued the bills in early May 2022. Ms X contacted the Council on 11 May 2022 to request the single person’s discount of 25% and to notify the Council that she moved into the property on 22 November 2021. The Council’s records show it applied the single person’s discount to Ms X’s Council Tax account for 2021/22 and 2022/23. It also granted Ms X an exemption from Council Tax for the period 21 October 2021 to 21 November 2021 as the property was empty during this time. This reduced Ms X’s bills to £480.54 for 2021/22 and £1399.07 for 2022/23. The Council issued the new bills on 12 May 2022. The bill for 2022/23 set out the instalments to be paid from June 2022 to January 2023.
16. Ms X notified the Council that she had sent a cheque for the Council Tax instalment previously due in May 2022 but it had not been cashed. The Council advised it had not received the cheque and asked Ms X to pay by other means. Ms X requested a payment card.
17. Ms X notified the Council she had not received the payment card. The Council’s record show it sent a further card in June 2022. Ms X notified the Council that she received the covering letter but the card was not enclosed. The Council ordered another payment card but I understand Ms X did not receive this.
18. In late June 2022 Ms X contacted the Council as she became aware her neighbour was paying less Council Tax than Ms X had been billed for. The Council advised Ms X that it could not disclose information regarding her neighbour’s account. It said Ms X’s instalments may be higher as her instalments did not start until June 2022 due to the revised bill. The Council also reminded Ms X that she had not paid the instalment due in June 2022.
19. Ms X asked the Council to review her Council Tax as she considered hers should be cheaper than her neighbour’s. Ms X said she had not paid the June instalment as she was waiting for the payment card which had not arrived. The Council advised Ms X that properties in the same Council Tax band would receive the same bill and the only difference is how the instalments are spread throughout the year. The Council advised Ms X to make a manual payment while waiting for the payment card to avoid getting into arrears.
20. Following further correspondence from Ms X, a senior officer sent an email to Ms X setting out how her bill had been calculated. She explained that Ms X’s property was in band C and the charge for 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 (2022/23) was £1399.07 (including the single person’s discount). There was also a balance of £480.54 for the period 22 November 2021 to 31 March 2022 (2021/22). The officer also included a statement of account and a list setting out the Council Tax charges for each area of the district, including Ms X’s district. The Council offered to set up a payment arrangement for Ms X so she could make payments from July 2022 to March 2023 to clear the arrears. The Council also advised Ms X of how she could appeal to the Valuation Office if she considered her property had been placed into the wrong Council Tax band.
21. Ms X remained of the view the Council was charging her the incorrect amount and requested a copy of the Council’s complaints procedure. A senior officer responded to Ms X and provided a link to the Council’s complaints procedure.
22. The Council sent further Council Tax bills in August 2022 to notify Ms X that the energy rebate discount had been deducted from her 2022/23 bill. Ms X raised again that she considered her Council Tax bills were incorrect and the Council had wrongly considered she moved into her property earlier than she did.
23. In October 2022, the Council issued reminders for the outstanding Council Tax for 2022/23 and for £480.54 for 2021/22. The reminders advised Ms X to pay the outstanding amount within seven days or lose her right to pay by instalments. Ms X did not pay so a summons was issued for Ms X to appear at the magistrates court in early December 2022.
24. Ms X attended the magistrates court on the appointed date. Ms X has said someone at the court told her the hearing was cancelled so she left the court. In response to my enquiries the Council said Ms X attended the court but would not speak to the officer representing the Council. The hearing was delayed and Ms X had left by the time the hearing started. The Council has said the court granted the liability orders. Ms X disputes the hearing took place or that the court granted the liability orders.
25. I understand that in early February 2023 the Council passed Ms X’s accounts to enforcement agents to collect in early February 2023. The Council has agreed to hold the recovery action until 30 June 2023.

Complaint

26. Ms X sent emails to the Council in September 2022 saying she wished to make a complaint. Between September and October 2022 Ms X and the Council exchanged a number of emails but the Council did not deal with Ms X’s emails as a complaint. In response to my enquiries the Council has said this was because it considered Ms X’s concerns to be service based.
27. Ms X made a further complaint to the Council in December 2022. The Council responded to the complaint in January 2023 and did not uphold it.

Analysis

Did the Council wrongly charge Ms X for Council Tax before she moved into the property?

28. The Council initially charged Ms X from 22 October 2021 which was the date she completed the purchase of her property. When Ms X notified the Council that she had moved in on 22 November 2021, the Council applied an exemption so she was only charged from this date. The Council Tax bills issued on 12 May 2022 show the Council had applied the exemption. The Council therefore acted on the information provided by Ms X about when she moved into the property and there is no evidence of fault.

Single person’s discount

29. The Council’s records show Ms X notified the Council in May 2022 that she was entitled to the single person’s discount. The Council Tax bills issued on 12 May 2022 show it had applied the single person’s discount to Ms X’s Council Tax bills for 2021/22 and 2022/23. So, there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

Did the Council fail to explain how the Council Tax charges have arisen and did it send the payment card

30. The Council’s emails of July 2022 set out how it has calculated Ms X’s Council Tax charges for 2021/22 and 2022/23. It also explained why Ms X’s neighbour’s monthly instalments could be different. The Council also sent a statement of account which showed the charges and the list of charges showing the charges for a band C property in Ms X’s area. I am therefore satisfied the Council explained how her bill had been calculated and it is not at fault. I have also checked Ms X’s bill against the charges for her area and I am satisfied the Council’s calculation of Ms X’s bills is correct.
31. The Council’s records show it sent the payment card to Ms X and sent replacement cards when she did not receive them. So, on balance, I consider the Council sent the first and replacement card. It is possible the Council did not enclose one card when sending them out to Ms X. I cannot explain why Ms X did not receive the first card and that replacement for the missing card but there is no evidence to show this is due to fault by the Council. The Council has agreed to issue another card.
32. Ms X did not make payments towards her Council Tax for 2021/22 and 2022/23 after the Council did not receive her cheque in May 2022 which is why her account is in arrears. I am mindful Ms X was waiting for her payment card and she can choose to make payments by her preferred method. But Ms X remained liable for her Council Tax payments while she was waiting for the card. It was open to her to make payments by other methods while she was waiting for the card to ensure she did not miss the payments due. As Ms X had not made payments, the Council was entitled to commence recovery action.

Liability order hearing on 7 December 2022.

33. Ms X considers the liability order hearing did not take place on 7 December 2022 so the court did not grant liability orders for her arrears. The Council has provided a copy of its case record, signed schedule from the court and a copy of the liability orders. On balance, I consider this is sufficient evidence to show the hearing took place on 7 December 2022 and the court granted the liability orders. As the Council obtained the liability orders it was entitled to pass Ms X’s accounts to enforcement agents to collect.
34. Ms X has said the Council was at fault for issuing its own summons for the liability order hearing. The Council is not at fault. The law does not prevent a council from drafting and issuing its own summons.
35. Ms X has said she did not receive a court bundle prior to the hearing. This is not a matter I can investigate. We do not have jurisdiction to investigate what happened between the issue of the summons and the granting of the liability order.

Complaints

36. The Council has said it considered Ms X’s emails to be service based so did not consider them to be complaints. In her email of late August 2022 Ms X said the Council had not dealt with the issues she had raised and she was unhappy with how it had dealt with her Council Tax account. Ms X was therefore indicating that she considered the Council had not delivered a service. In September 2022 Ms X clearly stated she was making a complaint. The Council should therefore have dealt with Ms X’s concerns as a complaint in September 2022 and considered it in accordance with its complaints procedure.
37. The Council only considered Ms X’s complaint through its complaints procedure when she made a further complaint in December 2022. This is poor complaint handling and is fault. As a result, Ms X was caused avoidable time and trouble and frustration in having to make a further complaint. The Council should apologise to Ms X for the avoidable time and trouble and frustration caused. This remedy is in accordance with our new guidance on remedies.

Back to top

Agreed action

38. The Council should:
1. Send a written apology to Ms X for the avoidable time and trouble and frustration caused by not considering her complaint through its complaints procedure before December 2022. The Council should ensure the apology to Ms X is in accordance with our new guidance on remedies for Making an effective apology
2. By training or other means, remind officers of the provisions of its complaints procedure to ensure officers recognise complaints and they are considered in accordance with the complaints procedure.
39. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

Back to top

Final decision

40. There is no evidence of fault in how the Council dealt with Ms X’s Council Tax account but the Council is at fault in how it dealt with her complaint which caused injustice to her. The Council has agreed to apologise to Ms X for the avoidable time and trouble caused which is a proportionate remedy.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman