Summary: Ms X complained about how the Council dealt with her council tax bills and the enforcement action it took to recover the amounts owed. Ms X also complained about the conduct of the enforcement agent who visited her property. There was no fault with how the Council dealt with and recovered Ms X’s council tax bills. However, there was fault by the Council for its failure to follow its retention policy for enforcement agents’ body worn videos, but it caused no injustice to Ms X.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about:

• how the Council dealt with her 2021/22 and 2022/23 council tax bills
• how the Council dealt with the recovery/enforcement action for the council tax arrears for both financial years
• the Enforcement Agent’s conduct during his visit to her property on 14 October 2022.

2. Ms X said the Council’s failings caused her financial loss, confusion, distress, frustration and time and trouble.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, 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)
4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

6. I have exercised discretion to investigate matters from 2021 (Council Tax Bill 2021/22 and 2022/23). This is because I needed to consider the whole period to carry out a meaningful investigation.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I have discussed the complaint with Ms X and considered the information she provided. I also considered the information the Council provided in response to my enquiries.
8. I sent Ms X and the Council a copy of my draft decision and considered all comments received before reaching a final decision.

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What I found

Legislation and Guidance

9. Council tax is a combination of a tax on the value of a property and a tax on individuals. The owner or occupier pays it.
10. The full council tax bill assumes there are two or more adults living in a home. If only one adult lives in the property, the council tax bill is reduced by 25% (Local Government Finance Act 1992). This is called a single person discount.
11. Councils issue demand notices annually. Residents are responsible for paying their council tax bills in monthly instalments. Council’s must send the person liable for payment of council tax a reminder and a notice before taking recovery action.
12. Councils may serve the documents/letters on a person by delivering it to them (in person), leaving it at their proper address or sending it by post to their proper address. Proper address is taken to be the last known address.
13. Recovery action is through the issue of a summons and getting a liability order through the magistrates' courts. Options include payment orders, attachment of earnings orders, seizure and sale of goods following the issue of a warrant, registered charges on property and, in extreme cases, imprisonment.
14. The Council may ask an enforcement company to attend a person’s property and seize goods to the value of a council tax debt.
15. When the debt is passed to an enforcement company there are two stages:

• Compliance stage: Upon receipt of the instruction from the local authority the enforcement company must send a Notice of Enforcement giving the debtor a minimum of seven clear days to pay before a visit can be made. The debtor can make a payment proposal following the Notice of Enforcement. The enforcement company adds a compliance stage fee of £75 to the debt.
• Enforcement stage: If the debtor does not pay during the compliance stage or they default on a payment arrangement, the enforcement company will pass their account to an individual Enforcement Agent (EA). The EA will visit the debtor’s property for the purpose of taking control of their goods. At the time of the visit, an enforcement fee of £235 is added to the debt.

Council’s Body Worn Video Policy

16. The Council’s retention of records policy states “…footage captured on body worn video will be destroyed after 3 months….”

Key events

17. Ms X lives in Property 1 and is liable for the council tax bill.
18. From December 2021 to mid-June 2022, Ms X temporarily rented and moved to another property, Property 2. This was because Ms X said Property 1 got flooded and some repair work needed to be done to it.
19. In mid-December 2021, the landlord of Property 2 informed the Council about Ms X’s move to the property.

Property 1 - CT Bill 2021/2022

20. The Council sent the council tax (CT) bill 2021/2022 for Property 1 to Ms X in April 2021 for a total of £1,136.25 with a single person discount applied.
21. In June 2021, Ms X paid £8 towards her CT bill. Between August and November 2021, the Council sent Ms X statutory documents about the non-payment of the outstanding CT bill. These included reminder notices, summons, warning / notice of enforcement action. The Council added extra fees to Ms X’s CT arrears such as £115 summons fees and £75 when it passed her account to the enforcement agents (EA) to collect the arrears. This meant the total bill Ms X owed was £1,318.25.
22. In November 2021, Ms X made a payment arrangement with the enforcement company to pay off her CT arrears. She agreed to pay £146.50 per month. Ms X made the first arranged payment of £147 in November 2021.
23. Ms X did not make the £146.50 arranged payment in December 2021. The enforcement company sent a text to Ms X about her payment default, and it subsequently moved her case to the enforcement stage.
24. In late January 2022, the EA visited Property 1 to recover Ms X’s CT bill 2021/2022 arrears which was a total of £1,406.25 (this included a £235 enforcement stage fee). After the EA’s visit, Ms X paid £1,096.25 and was left with £310 arrears for CT bill 2021/2022.
25. In April 2022, the Council contacted Ms X and asked her to confirm if Property 1 had been sold. This was because it noticed Ms X was registered to pay CT for two properties and she was receiving the single person discount on both properties. Ms X confirmed she still owned Property 1 but said the property had been empty since mid-December 2021.
26. In May 2022, the Council adjusted Ms X’s CT bill with a £113.10 single person discount for the period Ms X did not occupy Property 1. The Council issued Ms X with the £113.10 adjusted CT bill.
27. On 14 October 2022, the EA visited Ms X’s property and recovered the £310 outstanding balance. This amount was part of a total debt of £1,866.31 Ms X owed the Council.
28. In September 2022, the Council issued Ms X with a final notice of £113.10 CT arrears. The Council later added £115 summons fees which brought Ms X’s total arrears to £228.10. Ms X said the Council verbally informed her of the £228.10 during one of the telephone calls she made to it.
29. In late November 2022, the Council sent a notice of special arrangement to Ms X for the outstanding £228.10 bill. In January 2023, Ms X paid one of the instalments (£66) as agreed in the special arrangement.
30. The Council confirmed Ms X’s outstanding CT bill 2021/2022 for Property 1 remained £162.10.

Property 1 - CT Bill 2022/2023

31. The Council sent the CT bill 2022/2023 for Property 1 to Ms X in March 2022 for a total of £1,184.31 with a single person discount applied.
32. The Council adjusted/removed the single person discount for the period April 2022 to mid-June 2022 when Ms X was not resident at Property 1. The Council issued Ms X with the adjusted CT bill of £1,266.51 in December 2022 and it sent a reminder notice to Ms X in January 2023.
33. In February 2023, the Council issued a summons (£115) to Ms X which meant a total outstanding CT bill of £1381.51. The Council sent Ms X the adjusted CT bill to reflect the new total outstanding bill.
34. The Council confirmed the CT bill 2022/2023 for Property 1 of £1381.51 remained outstanding.

Property 2 - CT Bill 2021/2022

35. In December 2021, after Ms X moved to Property 2, the Council sent Ms X a £452.42 CT bill for Property 2. The bill covered the period December 2021 to March 2022.
36. In February 2022, the Council sent a reminder notice to Ms X. It asked Miss X to pay the CT arrears of £452.42 within seven days to stop it taking further action.
37. In March 2022, the Council applied a single person discount which meant Ms X CT bill amounted to £339.31.
38. Between June and August 2022, the Council sent Ms X a final notice and other statutory documents. The Council added the £115 summons fees and £75 when it passed her account to the EA to collect the arrears. The total CT bill arrears Ms X owed was £529.31.
39. On 14 October 2022, the EA visited Ms X’s property and recovered the £529.31 CT 2021/2022 arrears for Property 2. This amount was part of a total debt of £1,866.31 Ms X owed the Council.

Property 2 - CT Bill 2022/2023

40. The Council initially sent Ms X a £1,184.31 CT bill for Property 2. This covered the entire 2022/2023 financial year.
41. Subsequently, the Council adjusted Ms X’s CT bill to reflect the period she lived in Property 2 during the 2022/2023 financial year (1 April 2022 to 15 June 2022). The adjusted bill was £246.59 after it applied the single person discount.
42. Between April 2023 and September 2023, the Council sent Ms X a final notice, summons and warning of enforcement action. The Council initially added the summons costs of £115 to Ms X’s arrears but it later withdrew this cost.
43. The Council said Ms X paid her CT Bill 2022/23 of £246.59 for Property 2 in September 2023.

Complaint

44. In late January 2023, Ms X formally complained to the Council about how it had dealt with her CT bills and its continuous enforcement action against her. Ms X said the Council gave her inconsistent information on several occasions about her CT bills when she asked it for clarification. Ms X questioned why the Council asked the EA to visit Property 1 address when it was aware she had temporarily moved to Property 2.
45. Ms X also questioned why the Council had sent the same EA she had previously complained about to her property again in October 2022 after it upheld her previous complaint against the EA. She complained about the EA’s conduct during his visit in October 2022. Ms X asked the Council to provide her with the breakdown of her CT bills and for a full refund on the amount demanded by the EA in October 2022.
46. In the Council’s responses to Ms X’s complaint, it said it was not its intention to have sent the EA she had previously complained about to visit her again in October 2022. It explained its recovery action were randomly allocated to EAs. The Council said the EA disputed he harassed and intimidated Ms X. It said there was also no record Ms X had complained about the October 2022 EA’s visit until January 2023, several weeks after the visit. The Council confirmed the footage from the body camera the EA wore during the visit had been deleted. This was because it keeps the footage for about six weeks after an EA’s visit. The Council said it followed the correct enforcement action to recover Ms X’s CT arrears after it issued her with the statutory notices.
47. As regard the EA’s visit to Property 1 address when she had temporarily moved out, the Council said it was not aware Ms X had moved out of Property 1 until March 2022. It said the EA visited Property 1 address as it was the last known registered address for Ms X. The Council did not uphold Ms X’s complaint and said it was unable to refund her with the payment recovered by the EA in October 2022. The Council provided a breakdown of her CT bills, and it confirmed her outstanding payments.
48. Ms X and the Council then exchanged correspondence. Ms X disputed the Council’s responses, and the different breakdowns of her CT bills it provided. Ms X said the CT bill figures provided by the Council kept changing and said it was confusing to understand. Ms X alleged the Council was extorting money from her.
49. Ms X remained dissatisfied with the Council’s responses. She made a complaint to the Ombudsman.

Analysis

50. In this case, evidence shows when Ms X defaulted in her CT payments for financial years 2021/2022 and 2022/2023, the Council took steps to recover the arrears she owed. The question is whether the Council properly dealt with Ms X’s CT bills and if it took the proper enforcement action to recover the arrears.

CT BILLS AND ENFORCEMENT ACTION

Property 1 - CT Bill 2021/2022

51. The EA visited Ms X’s Property 1 address in late January 2022 to recover Ms X’s CT bill 2021/2022 arrears. At the time of the visit, Ms X had temporarily moved out of Property 1 to Property 2. Evidence shows Ms X did not inform the Council she had moved out of Property 1 until late April 2022. Therefore, I find the EA’s visit to Property 1 in late January 2022 was to the last known address for Ms X and it was not fault.
52. Although the Council was aware Ms X moved into Property 2 in December 2021, it was her landlord, not Ms X, who told the Council this. Ms X has the responsibility to inform the Council about any changes to her circumstances about her CT liability. As Ms X did not notify the Council until April 2022, I find there was no way the Council could have known Property 1 was empty.
53. After Ms X confirmed Property 1 had been empty since December 2021, the Council adjusted Ms X’s CT 2021/2022 bill with a £113.10 single person discount for the period Ms X did not occupy Property 1. The Council issued Ms X with the adjusted bill and all statutory documents to recover CT bill 2021/2022 arrears for Property 1. This was not fault.

Property 1 - CT Bill 2022/2023

54. The Council issued Ms X with an adjusted bill of £1,266.51 in December 2022 in line with its CT recovery policy. The Council then sent a reminder notice to Ms X in January 2023 before it issued her with a summons (£115) to recover CT bill 2022/2023. This meant Ms X owed a total outstanding CT bill of £1,381.51. This was not fault.

Property 2 - CT Bill 2021/2022

55. There was no evidence of fault by the Council with how it dealt with Ms X’s CT bill for this financial year.
56. The Council issued Ms X with her CT bill and a single person discount applied for period December 2021 to March 2022. It also issued Ms X with all the statutory documents and the correct additional fees when she defaulted with her payment. A total of £529.31 was recovered by the EA on 14 October 2022. These were not faults.

Property 2 - CT Bill 2022/2023

57. The Council initially billed Ms X £1,184.31 for the entire financial year. It subsequently adjusted the bill to £246.59 and applied the single person discount. This was to reflect the period Ms X occupied the property during the financial year (April 2022 to mid-June 2022). This was not fault. The Council confirmed Ms X paid the £246.59 in September 2023.

EA’s alleged conduct during the 14 October 2022 visit

58. The Council’s body worn video policy states it must retain and delete stored data after three months of when the footage was taken. In this case, the Council confirmed the footage from the body camera worn by the EA during the visit was deleted about six weeks after the visit. This was fault and not in line with its retention policy. But I do not find this fault caused Ms X an injustice. This is because evidence shows Ms X made her complaint to the Council in late January 2023. This was more than three months after the EA’s visit. So, I find even if the Council had adhered to its three months retention policy, it is likely the Council would have deleted the footage by the time Ms X made her complaint.
59. Furthermore, I consider if Ms X was aggrieved by the EA’s conduct, she could have raised her concerns to the Council sooner than she did, following the EA’s visit. And without any evidence to show what happened during 14 October 2022 visit, I cannot come to a view on Ms X’s allegation about the EA’s conduct.
60. I acknowledge how distressing it must have been for Ms X to be visited again on 14 October 2022 by the same EA she said she had previously complained about. The Council confirmed its recovery actions are randomly allocated to EAs. This is a decision the Council is entitled to make and it was not fault.

Conclusion

61. The Council confirmed Ms X’s outstanding balance as of 15 January 2024 was £1543.61. The total arrears consist of £162.10 and £1,381.51 for Property 1’s CT bills 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 respectively.
62. I acknowledge Ms X did not inform the Council about changes to her circumstances until April 2022 which affected how the Council dealt with the CT bills for both properties. This included the adjustment bills it had to make to Ms X’s CT bills. I find these contributed to why Ms X found the different CT bills the Council issued to her unclear and confusing.
63. While I find no fault by the Council here, I suggest the Council considers issuing Ms X with a clear council tax bill for her outstanding council tax arrears for both 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 for Property 1. This is to ensure Ms X is clear about the council tax arrears she owes.

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Agreed action

64. The Council has agreed to within one month of the final decision remind relevant staff of the importance of adhering to the Council’s body worn video policy on the retention of footage for three months after an enforcement agent’s visit.
65. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above action.

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Final decision

66. I find evidence of no fault by the Council with how it dealt with and recovered Ms X’s council tax bills.
67. However, there was fault by the Council for its failure to follow its retention policy for enforcement agents’ body worn videos, but it caused no injustice to Ms X. The Council has agreed to complete the action stated above under the ‘agreed action’ section.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman