City of Wolverhampton Council (23 008 519)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 19 Sep 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the value of a council tax refund after a re-banding as it is best dealt with by the Valuation Office Agency.
The complaint
- Mr X has received a refund for overpaid council tax after a re-banding of a property he used to live in 30 years ago. Mr X is unhappy that the Council has refunded the value of the payments he made at the time rather than paying him what that money would be worth today and seeks compensation for having had to complain.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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 there is another body better placed to consider this complaint or there is insufficient injustice to proceed. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is the Government body responsible for deciding which band applies to residential properties. Any complaint Mr X has therefore about being overcharged council tax due to the incorrect band of his property would be best dealt with by the VOA. It is also best placed to advise Mr X about the value of the refund he has received.
- While I recognise Mr X is unhappy about having to complain, this does not represent a level of injustice sufficient to justify our further involvement.
- For these reasons, we will not investigate.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is best dealt with by the VOA.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman