Coventry City Council (23 006 749)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 10 Sep 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Mr X’s liability to pay council tax. It was reasonable for him to use his right to appeal the matter to the Valuation Tribunal.
The complaint
- Mr X complained the Council has failed to apply a student exemption to his council tax, putting him at a financial detriment of over £3,000. He says he paid the amount the Council considered due to avoid the matter escalating to enforcement agents, but the Council has failed to refund the overcharged amount. He says he has also gone to inconvenience in trying to resolve the matter. He wants the Council to reapply his student exemption and refund the money he overpaid.
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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complained about the Council’s actions in relation to his Council tax bill for the 2019-2021 financial years. He says he was a student and should have been exempt from paying, but the Council has refused to accept he was exempt.
- The Valuation Tribunal considers appeals about council tax liability if, after the person has appealed to the Council, there remains a dispute. We will not usually consider such complaints. The Tribunal is an independent body with the power to decide whether Mr X should have been exempt from paying council tax for the period in question. There is not a good reason in this case for us to consider a complaint about the matter instead and it would have been reasonable for Mr X to use the appeals process available to him.
- Mr X says he has been discussing the matter with the Council for more than 12 months. It is open to Mr X to ask the Valuation Tribunal to consider a late appeal.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it was reasonable for him to use his right to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman