Summary: Mrs X complained the Council unfairly instructed bailiffs to collect a historic council tax debt without trying to reach her. She says this resulted in her unfairly having to pay bailiff costs. The Council is at fault for failing to send a notice before taking enforcement action. This did not cause any injustice to Mrs X but the Council will take action to prevent reoccurrence.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council unfairly instructed the bailiffs to collect an outstanding council tax debt without trying to reach her first.
2. She says as she paid this immediately this resulted in her unfairly having to pay bailiff costs.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered:
• The information provided by Mrs X and discussed the complaint with her;
• The Council’s comments on the complaint and the supporting information it provided; and
• Relevant law and guidance.
6. Mrs X and the organisation 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

Law and guidance

7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. The ‘Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014’ sets out the fees a bailiff can charge when recovering debt and the three stages they must follow:
• The Compliance Stage – a bailiff must issue a notice of enforcement seven clear days before they take control of the goods. The fee for this stage is £75.
• The Enforcement Stage – this stage starts once a bailiff has made a first visit. At this visit they can take control of the goods. Once they have done this, they must give the debtor a notice. The fee for this stage is £235. If outstanding debts are more than £1500, bailiffs can charge a further 7.5% of the amount outstanding over £1500.
• The Sale or Disposal Stage – this stage starts once a bailiff has taken control of the goods. They must then allow seven clear days between the removal of goods and their sale. In this time a bailiff must value the goods and send a copy to the debtor. The fee for this stage is £110.
   

The Council’s Council Tax debt recovery policy

13. The policy says recovery action should begin with a reminder or final notice. It will issue a reminder if two monthly payments have been missed. A maximum of two reminders can be issued in a financial year. It will issue a final notice after a third failure to pay an instalment, when the account is closed or in relation to a previous tax year.
14. A summons should be issued following a failure to pay the amount shown on a reminder or final notice. If the amount remains unpaid a liability order can be obtained.
15. The Council can enforce a liability order where no payment plan is agreed, or payment received. It should issue a 14-day notice which tells the debtor of its intention to take enforcement action. This should include a warning about bailiff fees.

What happened

16. Mrs X moved into a house (property A) in July 2016. She lived in property A with her partner until September 2017. She and her partner were listed with the Council for council tax on the property during this time. She then moved to a new property (property B) outside the Council area.
17. In early March 2017 the Council sent Mrs X a council tax bill for the financial year 2017 to 2018. This set out that she was due to pay a monthly bill of £115 after an initial payment of £119.86. She made the first payment.
18. The Council sent out a reminder notice in July 2017 for arrears of £172.50. The Council asked that she pay within seven days. It noted that a failure to do so would result in them taking legal action to recover the full annual bill.
19. In mid-August the Council sent out a revised council tax bill for the period 2017 to 2018. This set out a monthly payment plan of £123 following an initial payment of £124.50.
20. The Council sent out a reminder notice in early October 2017 for outstanding arrears of £247.50.
21. In mid-October the Council received notice that a new tenant had moved into property A. It then sent out a revised council tax bill for the period April 2017 until mid-September 2017 addressed to Mrs X at property A. This confirmed the remaining council tax payable was £232.86.
22. The Council spoke to the letting agents responsible for arranging the new tenant in late October 2017 to get information on the end date of the tenancy. The agent agreed to find out further information. Later the same day the agent confirmed the keys had been received from the landlord in mid-September, that this was possibly when the previous tenants had left and that it held no forwarding address. They then confirmed the date for the end of the tenancy was correct.
23. In December 2017 the Council sent out a reminder to Mrs X at property A for the outstanding arrears of £232.86. It asked she pay within seven days.
24. A summons to appear at the magistrates court was issued by the Council in early February 2018 to Mrs X at property A. In relation to the outstanding council tax. A fee of £65.00 was added to the outstanding amount for the legal costs.
25. In late October 2022 bailiffs sent a notice of enforcement to Mrs X at her new address (property B). It told her of the outstanding debt of £297.86 and a fee of £75.00 was added for the bailiffs’ costs.
26. Mrs X paid the outstanding debt and the bailiffs fees in late October 2022.

Findings

27. Mrs X accepts that she had missed payments for her council tax in 2017. The Council is not at fault for taking recovery action on unpaid council tax. It provided clear bills and reminders before taking court action.
28. I appreciate that Mrs X now lives at property B. Although the Council should reasonably have known she no longer lived at property A, she had not told it of her new address. It was appropriate for the Council to issue its reminder and summons to her last known address. Debt recovery documents intended for court cannot be served by other methods such as email. There is no fault in the Council sending correspondence to property A.
29. After the liability order the Council did not take further action to recover the debt until November 2022. There is no fault in the time taken in pursuing the debt as legislation does not set a specific time frame. We would expect, that where it decides not to pursue the liability order straight away, and in line with its policy, the Council send a notice to the debtor before taking enforcement action. The Council did not send a notice to Mrs X warning her about possible enforcement action either in 2018 or before it instructed bailiffs in November 2022. This is fault.
30. I am not persuaded that had the Council sent the notice Mrs X would have become aware of the debt and avoided paying extra costs. The Council would have been entitled to send the correspondence to the last known address. Mrs X says she did not receive any previous correspondence sent to this address. As such she would not have received this notice had it been sent.
31. The Council says it carried out a search of its own database to locate her but could not. Although there is no evidence of this search, I am not persuaded the Council could have located her had it done so. Mrs X had changed her name and was no longer living in the Council’s area.

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Agreed action

32. Within one month of the final decision the Council will:
• Remind staff the policy requires a notice to be sent to the debtor before enforcement action is taken.
33. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

34. I have completed my investigation. I have found fault. This did not cause any injustice to Mrs X. The Council will take action to prevent reoccurrence.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman