Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council issuing Mr X with a summons following its issue of a council tax bill to his old address. There is insufficient evidence of any significant injustice which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council sending a delayed bill with a court summons after it failed to record his new address which he provided. He wants the Council to compensate him for the time and trouble he spent trying to resolve the Council’s error.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X informed the Council that his tenants had moved out of a property he owned in 2022. He did not receive an apportioned council tax bill in his own name following his online change of details submission. After 7 months Mr X received a new bill which had been issued to his old address, together with a summons for non-payment.
6. Mr X contacted the Council which he says involved a long wait in a telephone queue. The Council accepted that it had failed to update its accounts and that he should not have received the summons. The summons costs of £60 were removed from his account and an apology was made for the error.
7. Mr X claimed compensation for the stress of receiving a summons and having to chase the Council to obtain an explanation and suitable action. The Council says it will not provide compensation for an error which did not leave him out of pocket.
8. Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
9. The Council apologised for the error in not updating Mr X’s address and t cancelled the summons. Mr X could have queried the failure to issue a new bill before the 7 months which passed before the summons was issued.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council issuing Mr X with a summons following its issue of a council tax bill to his old address. There is insufficient evidence of any significant injustice which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman