Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to refund costs the complainant incurred before his property was moved to a lower council tax band. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, wants the Council to refund costs he incurred before his property was moved to a lower council tax band. He says he would not have incurred costs if he had been in the correct band.

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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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
3. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the correspondence between Mr X and the Council about the refund. I also considered our Assessment Code and invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

5. The VOA decides what band a property should be in for council tax. The VOA is not part of the Council. The Council must charge council tax based on the banding decision made by the VOA.
6. Taxpayers are required to pay the council tax as billed. If they do not pay, or do not pay enough, the Council can serve a summons and apply for a liability order. Costs are incurred when the Council does this.
7. Since 1997 Mr X has often had council tax arrears. The Council has taken court action and Mr X has incurred costs.
8. In 2022 the VOA reduced Mr X’s council tax band from 1993. The VOA sent a new banding decision to the Council. The Council issued new council tax bills to reflect the new banding decision and issued a refund for the overpaid council tax from 1993.
9. Mr X asked the Council to repay the amount he had paid in costs while he was in the higher band. He said he would not have incurred these costs if he had always been in the correct band.
10. The Council said it would not refund the costs. It said the costs were correctly charged because his account was in arrears when each summons was issued. The Council demonstrated that when each summons was issued the account would still have been in arrears even if Mr X’s home had been in the lower band.
11. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council was required to bill Mr X for the higher band because that was the instruction from the VOA. Mr X did not pay as billed so the Council was permitted to take recovery action and charge costs. In addition, even if Mr X had been in the correct band since 1993, he would still have incurred costs because he would have been in arrears when each summons was issued.
12. All the banding decisions were made by the VOA. I cannot investigate the VOA because it is not part of the Council.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman