Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council taking recovery action for council tax she did not owe. At my recommendation, the Council has agreed a suitable remedy.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council took recovery action for council tax she did not owe after she moved out of the Council’s area. She says this caused distress and she feared enforcement agents visiting.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and copy complaint correspondence from the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
5. I shared my draft decision with Miss X and considered her comments on it.

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My assessment

6. The Council’s recovery action included getting a liability order from the magistrates’ court and passing the matter to enforcement agents. The agents sent Miss X eight letters, including threats to come to her new address and seize her belongings.
7. The Council accepts it did not act properly on the information it had, including information Miss X had provided about her move. Had the Council acted properly, it would have known Miss X owed nothing (indeed, she had paid too much council tax), so it would not have started recovery action.
8. During the two months the enforcement agents were writing to her, Miss X was trying to resolve matters. The Council accepts it did not act on Miss X’s initial complaint. That fault unnecessarily prolonged matters.
9. Once the Council started dealing with the complaint, its first response wrongly suggested Miss X had not provided the necessary information at the relevant time. Only when Miss X escalated the complaint to stage two did the Council accept it had been at fault for the recovery action. A thorough and objective first response would likely have enabled the Council to accept responsibility sooner.
10. Those faults caused Miss X avoidable anxiety about the prospect of enforcement agents attending her property to remove goods, as they had threatened. Miss X also had some avoidable time and trouble pursuing matters because of the Council’s flawed complaint-handling.
11. The Council apologised, removed the court and enforcement agent costs it had sought to charge and repaid Miss X the council tax she had overpaid. It also offered a further £100 for the impact of its errors.
12. I do not consider £100 enough for the distress, time and trouble the Council’s faults caused Miss X.
13. Miss X wanted the Council to pay her £636 as that was the amount the Council’s enforcement agents had mistakenly demanded from her. That amount is not relevant to how the Council might remedy the distress its fault caused. It is also excessive in the circumstances. The relevant point is the Ombudsman’s approach to remedying such situations.
14. The Ombudsman’s Guidance on Remedies says payments for distress from unnecessary court or enforcement agent action will usually be in the range of £100 to £300 but distress might be greater in some circumstances. As the avoidable contact from enforcement agents continued for around two months, I consider a payment at the top of the Ombudsman’s suggested range appropriate for the distress caused to Miss X.
15. There should also be a payment to acknowledge Miss X’s time and trouble pursuing matters. The missed opportunities to put matters right earlier are aggravating factors in the injustice the Council’s faults caused Miss X.

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Agreed action

16. At my recommendation, the Council has agreed to pay Miss X £400 within one month of today’s date. This is a symbolic payment, not compensation in the way the courts might award. It represents £300 for Miss X’s avoidable distress and £100 for the time and trouble pursuing matters.

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Final decision

17. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council has agreed a suitable remedy for the injustice its faults caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman