Summary: Mr and Mrs X complain about the Council’s handling of their Council Tax account and the enforcement action taken in relation to arrears on the account. We will not investigate the complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr and Mrs X complain they received a summons for Council Tax arrears when they had paid their instalments as soon as they received email notification of outstanding payments. They say they did not receive online reminder notifications and were asked to make payments for Council Tax due in 2024.

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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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, 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 complainants, including the Council’s response to the complaint.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
5. I gave the complainants the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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My assessment

6. Mr and Mrs X received their Council Tax bill in March 2023 setting out what payments they needed to make by the first of every month from April 2023 to January 2024.
7. Mr and Mrs X were late with their payments for April and May 2023. They had opted for electronic billing in January 2023 so a reminder notice was sent to them electronically in May and they paid the two outstanding instalments. They did not make their June or July payments and were again sent a reminder on 10 July. While a payment of £169 was made on 9 July, this did not cover the amount owing for June and July so the Council proceeded to take enforcement action. As Mr and Mrs X had fallen into arrears and had not paid the amount requested, in accordance with normal policy they lost their right to pay by instalments and the whole remaining balance for Council Tax for 2023/24 became due.
8. It was Mr and Mrs X’s responsibility to ensure the instalment payments reached the Council by the first of every month April to January. This did not happen and they fell into arrears. Reminders were issued electronically but as they did not bring their account up to date within the required time limit, the Council issued a summons. While this was upsetting for the complainants, there is no evidence to suggest fault by the Council in the way it dealt with their case.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman