Summary: Mr D complained the Council closed his council tax account using incorrect information from a third party and then pursued enforcement action for a council tax debt without sending the correct notification letters. Mr D says this caused him distress and financial hardship. We have found fault with the Council’s actions. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice caused by the fault. The Council will apologise, make symbolic payments and take action to improve services in the future.

The complaint

1. Mr D complained the Council closed his council tax account using incorrect information from a third party and then pursued enforcement action for a council tax debt without sending him the correct notification letters. Mr D also complains the Council delayed in responding to his complaint. Mr D says this has caused him distress and financial hardship. Mr D would like a refund of the legal fees he has paid and financial compensation for the distress he has been caused.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. As part of the investigation I have:
• Considered the complaint and documents provided by Mr D.
• Made enquiries of the Council and considered its response.
• Spoken to Mr D.
• Mr D and the Council had the opportunity to comment on a draft version of this decision. I considered any comments I received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Legal and administrative background

Council Tax

5. The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 cover both the way councils collect payments of council tax and the way councils can recover council tax debt. The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 and associated regulations cover the way enforcement agents may recover debts.
6. The council tax bill for the year is due on 1 April. A council will usually collect payment through monthly instalments. If the liable person misses any instalment, the council will send them a reminder. If a payment is still not made or a further payment missed, then the entire outstanding balance will be due (that is the full amount for the rest of the year).
7. To use the various powers available to it to recover unpaid council tax, a council must apply to a magistrate’s court for a liability order against those it believes are liable. Once a council has a liability order it can take recovery action.
8. A council may ask an enforcement agent to visit a person’s property and seize goods to the value of a council tax debt if it has a liability order from the magistrates’ court.
9. The Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014 sets out the fees an enforcement agent can charge when recovering debt and the three stages they must follow:
• The Compliance Stage – a enforcement agent must issue a notice of enforcement. The fee for this stage is £75.
• The Enforcement Stage – this stage starts once an enforcement agent has made a first visit. This must be at least seven clear days after sending the notice of enforcement. At this visit the agent can take control of goods. The fee for this stage is £235. If the outstanding debts are more than £1,500, the agent can charge a further 7.5% of the amount outstanding over £1,500.
• The Sale or Disposal Stage – this stage starts once an enforcement agent has taken control of the goods. They must allow seven clear days between the removal of goods and their sale. In this time an agent must value the goods and send a copy of the valuation to the debtor. The fee for this stage is £110.

10. Regulation 8 of the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013 state a notice of enforcement must be delivered by hand through the letter box of the place, or one of the places where the debtor usually lives or carries on a trade or business.

Service of Documents

11. For a document to be effective it must be served on a person. Summonses are served under The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 35(2). All other documents are served under the Local Government Act 1972 section 233. Both say the document may be served on a person by delivering it to them in person, leaving it at their proper address or sending it by post to their proper address. Proper address is taken to be the last known address.

Council’s Complaints Process

12. The Council has a two stage process for handling complaints. At stage one the Council advises it aims to provide a response within 10 working days, or 20 working days for more complex complaints. Stage 2 complaints will normally be responded to within 25 days.

Key Events

13. In March 2022 a third party estate agent used the Council’s online service and incorrectly advised the Council to close Mr D’s council tax account for property A.
14. Mr D signed up for e-billing in April 2022 and provided his contact details. Towards the end of April 2022, Mr D sold property A and moved to a new property, property B, under a different Council. Mr D updated his contact details and provided property B as his correspondence address for the council tax account linked to property A.
15. In May 2022 the Council acted on the third party information it received in March to close Mr D’s council tax account from February 2022. It issued a council tax refund of £205.22 which Mr D claimed in April 2022. Mr D told us he believed his account had been closed due to the information he provided in April 2022.
16. In July 2022 Mr D moved to a new property, property C. He did not update his correspondence address for property A as he believed the account had been correctly closed in May 2022.
17. The Council reopened the council tax account for property A in December 2022 following notification from the third party that it had provided incorrect information. A council tax adjustment notice (bill) was sent to Mr D via email in December 2022. A further reminder was issued via email in January 2023.
18. As the Council did not receive payment it issued a court summons to Mr D’s last known address, property B, in January 2023. A liability order was granted in February 2023 and the Council passed Mr D’s account to an enforcement agent in March 2023.
19. The enforcement agents sent a letter of enforcement to Mr D’s last known address, property B, in March 2023. The agents did not receive a response so a pre-enforcement visit notice was sent. An enforcement agent visit took place at property B in April 2023.
20. Following the enforcement visit to property B, Mr D was made aware of the visit by neighbours from his previous address. Mr D contacted the Council on the same day and paid the outstanding fees to ensure no further enforcement action took place. Mr D paid a total of £715.48 which was made up of the following fees:
• £322.98 council tax arrears.
• £82.50 court fee.
• £75 compliance fee.
• £235 enforcement visit fee.
21. Mr D submitted a stage one complaint to the Council in April 2023 regarding his council tax account. The Council provided a stage one complaint in May 2023, 15 working days after it received Mr D’s complaint. This falls within the Council’s timeframe for issuing a stage one complaint response.
22. Mr D escalated his complaint to stage 2 in May 2023 and the Council responded 49 days later in August 2023. The Council failed to adhere to its time scale for issuing a stage two complaint response.

My Consideration

23. The Council acted in good faith to accept third party information when closing Mr D’s council tax account in May 2022. However it should have made him aware of the error when reopening his account in December 2022.
24. There is no fault in the Council issuing council tax letters to Mr D via email in December 2022 and January 2023.
25. The Council used Mr D’s last known address to send the witness summons, this is not fault.
26. The Notice of Enforcement was not delivered to the correct address and the enforcement agents did not visit Mr D’s correct address when carrying out its enforcement visit. This means he should not have been charged the £235 fee for the enforcement agents property visit.
27. There was a delay in the Council providing its stage two response to Mr D’s complaint. This was fault which caused unnecessary uncertainty for Mr D.

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Agreed action

28. Within one month of the Ombudsman’s final decision the Council will:
• Issue an apology to Mr D for the faults identified.
• Refund Mr D the £235 enforcement visit fee.
• Pay Mr D an additional £100 to acknowledge the time and trouble Mr D has spent seeking a resolution from the Council.
• Pay Mr D an additional £100 to acknowledge the distress caused by the faults identified.
• Share this decision with its council tax department staff to ensure they are aware of this decision and the process to follow when enforcement letters have not been delivered.
29. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final Decision

30. We uphold this complaint. There was fault by the Council which caused injustice. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice caused.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman