Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax because any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X has complained that the Council’s error meant that he owed £144 in unpaid council tax. He says that rectifying the issue took time and caused him enormous stress. Mr X would like the Council to pay him compensation to reflect the impact this has had.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council’s responses.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. In June 2023 Mr X received a letter from the Council informing him he owed £144 in unpaid council tax from June 2022. The Council sent reminders in June 2022 and July 2022, but no further reminders were sent until June 2023. Mr X says he remembers two of these reminders but thought they were a mistake.
6. Mr X says he contacted the Council who initially advised him the error was because of a lack of funds in his account at the time. Mr X provided bank statements which showed this was not the case. The Council then investigated and confirmed Mr X had paid on time, but an error had led to the payment being attributed to somebody else.
7. Mr X remains unhappy that the Council initially said the error was his fault and he had to prove otherwise. He says this caused him stress and took time to resolve, therefore he would like the Council to pay him compensation.
8. It is not the role of the Ombudsman to award compensation. However, if we identify there is a significant ongoing injustice, we can ask a council to make a symbolic payment to acknowledge the distress or difficulties that a person has been put through because of what it did wrong.
9. After Mr X contacted the Council, the issue was dealt with promptly and he was informed there was no outstanding council tax liability. Although the Council initially told Mr X the error was due to his mistake, and he had to contact them several times and provide bank statements to prove otherwise, this is not evidence of significant injustice.
10. The Council has investigated, apologised for its errors and confirmed there is no outstanding council tax liability. As it has taken these steps, it is unlikely further investigation would lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman