Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

The complaint

1. Ms Y complained the Council has failed to refund her overpayment of council tax which she paid while her application for Universal Credit application. She is also unhappy with the lack of response to her letters of complaint.
2. Ms Y says she is upset and frustrated at the issue and has lost over £300.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

4. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information Ms Y and the Council provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Ms Y moved into the Council’s area in July 2021 and submitted a claim to the Council for Council Tax Support (CTS) while she was on Universal Credit. Between September 2021 and February 2022 Ms Y made payments totalling £156.23. Ms Y says she paid this to prevent recovery action for unpaid council tax while the Council decided her CTS application. Ms Y did later receive CTS, which was backdated to July 2021.
7. In July 2022, Ms Y “paid back” £166.80 to the Council, as she had, according to the Council, been “overpaid” for CTS by this amount. This money was used to clear the remaining balance for her council tax liability for 2021.
8. During this time, Ms Y’s claim with the Department for Work and Pensions, for Universal Credit, which had allegedly been overpaid, was being reviewed. This could have impacted on Ms Y’s entitlement to CTS, but following the review, which was decided in August 2022, it was confirmed Ms Y’s entitlement had been correct originally, entitling her to CTS.
9. Ms Y wrote to the Council repeatedly between October 2022 and March 2023, asking for the money she had paid for council tax to be refunded to her, as following the DWP review, she had been entitled to the CTS. Ms Y did not however receive a full response until March 2023, when she attended the Council’s offices.
10. The Council then gave its complaint responses in April and May 2023. Within these responses the Council apologised for the lack of response to her letters, albeit some of the letter it said it had not received. It explained that Ms Y was not entitled to a refund of her payments for council tax as she had fully paid the account but had not overpaid. Ms Y asked us to investigate.

Analysis

11. The full charge for council tax was £905.68 for the year 2021. Ms Y received a single person discount to reduce her bill by £226.42 and received CTS, reducing the bill further by £356.23. While many councils refer to an overpayment in CTS, it is important to note that CTS is not a paid amount to Ms Y, but effectively reduces her bill. Ms Y was therefore not directly paid CTS. CTS does not remove all liability for council tax payments, an amount, even if small is likely to be owed. The award of CTS meant her liability for council tax amounted to £323.03.
12. Ms Y paid the amount, initially in the instalments amounting to £156.23, and then in the one-off payment Ms Y made in July 2022, of £166.80 which was phrased as her paying back the CTS to the Council. However, in fact it meant that the CTS, from Ms Y’s point of view, was reduced, thus increasing her bill by £166.80, which she paid, leaving Ms Y with a no balance left to pay.
13. Consequently, Ms Y is not entitled to an overpayment as she has in fact not overpaid but paid the reduced liability on her council tax account. As she has not overpaid, it is unlikely we would find the Council at fault for not providing her with a refund, so we will not investigate.
14. Ms Y has also complained about the lack of and delayed responses to her complaint letters. The Council has acknowledged this and apologised for the problem, having investigated the issue. As it has taken these steps, it is unlikely further investigation in how it handled this correspondence would lead to a different outcome. Further, it is not a good use of public money to investigate how the Council dealt with the complaint where we are not considering the substantive matter. Consequently, we will not investigate.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Ms Y’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman