London Borough of Harrow (23 009 452)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 19 Oct 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to apply interest to Ms X’s council tax refund. This is because an investigation would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.
The complaint
- Ms X complained the Council failed to apply interest to a council tax refund he received after his valuation band was reduced.
- Ms X said he has been caused financial loss due to the Council’s actions.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council recently provided Ms X with a refund after the Valuation office agency (VOA) reduced Ms X’s council tax banding.
- Ms X complained to the Council because he felt it should provide interest in addition to the council tax refund. The Council explained there is no government guidance which requires the Council to provide interest on refunds.
- Ms X remains unhappy with the situation and has referred the complaint to the Ombudsman. An investigation would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions as the evidence shows the Council has advised Ms X correctly. There is currently no legal requirement or policy which requires councils to apply interest on council tax refunds. Therefore, there is no evidence the Council has acted with fault.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because an investigation would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman