Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council (22 016 002)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 02 Apr 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council tax payments because there is no evidence of fault and he can appeal any dispute about liability or discounts.
The complaint
- Mr X says that the Council failed to properly tell him of his Council tax bill which led to increased costs.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:
- there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
- any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
- any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
- we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
- further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X says that he was unable to contact the Council to dispute the Council tax bills he received.
- The Council provided an explanation of the different ways in which the Council could be contacted. They also gave a detailed account of Mr X’s Council tax liability which explained the differences in the bills he received. Any dispute about liability or discount could be appealed to a tribunal. The tribunal is an expert body and their decisions are binding on the Council. I see no reason why an appeal could not be made in this case.
- Mr X was aware that he had not paid the full Council tax bill. Given this, it was not fault for the Council to pursue enforcement action for the remaining unpaid bill. The costs added to the bill are not therefore the result of administrative fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman