London Borough of Harrow (23 002 788)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Council was at fault for the way it dealt with Mr X’s council tax accounts. This caused injustice as Mr X spent a significant amount of time trying to rectify his accounts with the Council and received several Court summonses over unpaid council tax. The Council offered Mr X a payment to acknowledge the inconvenience he suffered, made a payment to his solicitor for costs incurred and withdrew all enforcement costs. This is suitable to remedy the injustice caused.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about the way the Council dealt with his council tax accounts and the time taken to rectify these.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- Asp part of this investigation I considered the information provided by Mr X and the information provided by the Council. I sent a draft of this decision to Mr X and the Council and considered comments received in response.
What I found
What happened
- Mr X built a number of flats which he intended for sale. In July 2019, the Council contacted him and said the Valuation Office Agency had inspected the development and Mr X was liable to pay council tax. Mr X responded as the utilities had not been installed at the development. Following this the Council agreed a completion date with Mr X for 1 September 2019.
- In late September 2019, the Council sent Mr X a summons for non-payment of council tax for the flats he had built. Mr X contacted the Council and explained he had not received any council tax bills and the council tax banding for several of the flats was incorrect. The Council’s position was that it had sent council tax bills to Mr X as it could not send a summons without sending council tax bills first. The agreed to withdraw the summons.
- Mr X said over the next few years the Council continued to send him summonses for non-payment of council tax and kept removing them after he contacted the Council. Mr X explained on occasions the Council sent Civil Enforcement Agents to his home address. Mr X eventually had to employ a solicitor to rectify the council tax billing and his solicitor subsequently obtained an agreement with the Council for council tax.
- In February 2023, Mr X complained to the Council about how it had handled his council tax matters for the flats he built. Mr X asked the Council to pay him £17,500 for the time he spent trying to rectify this issue with the Council over several years.
- In early March 2023, the Council agreed to pay Mr X’s solicitor’s costs. The Council provided its final response to Mr X’s complaint in May 2023. The Council acknowledged it had made errors with payment transfers for several of the flats and did not agree these with Mr X. This contributed to the large exchanges of communication between the Council and Mr X. The Council also acknowledged it sent summonses to Mr X and on occasions referred these to the Council’s Civil Enforcement Agents but had subsequently withdrawn the costs associated with all of these. The Council said it accepted this was an inconvenience to Mr X and offered £650 in recognition of this.
Analysis
- The Council was at fault for how it handled Mr X’s council tax accounts. It has recognised this and acknowledged that there were issues with payment transfers for some of the flats and these were not agreed with Mr X.
- Mr X has suffered injustice as a result of the Council’s fault in managing his council tax accounts. Mr X has spent a significant amount of time trying to come to an agreement with the Council and eventually had to employ a solicitor to negotiate with the Council on his behalf. In addition, Mr X had Civil Enforcement Agents turn up at his home address on occasions.
- The Council has come to an agreement with Mr X concerning the council tax for the flats he built. It has also agreed to make a payment to his solicitor for the legal costs incurred. The Council has withdrawn all enforcement action and costs associated with this and offered Mr X £650. I am satisfied this remedies the injustice caused to Mr X. I acknowledge Mr X is seeking £17,500 compensation, however this is not a remedy we are able to recommend and the amount the Council has offered Mr X to acknowledge the inconvenience he suffered is in line with the Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies.
Final decision
- I have completed my investigation and found the Council was at fault and this caused Mr X injustice, however the Council has offered a suitable remedy to Mr X.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman