Telford & Wrekin Council (22 017 187)
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 liability because there is no evidence of fault by the Council and there was a right of appeal to a tribunal.
The complaint
- Mr X says that the Council acted unfairly in now seeking Council tax payment for a property he owned in 2016.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
- The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
- We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X owned a property (subject to Council tax) from February 2016 to September 2017. The Council says that no forwarding/contact address was provided for Mr X and so, when no Council tax was paid, the bills were sent to that address for payment. A Liability Order was obtained and the bill was passed to bailiffs to enforce.
- There is no evidence that Mr X provided the Council with an address for payment other than the original property. The Council’s actions were not therefore fault. Any dispute about period of liability or entitlement to discounts or exemptions can be appealed to a Valuation 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.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman