Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to pay Ms X interest on council tax she overpaid. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council wrongly calculated the end date for council tax on a previous property. She also complains it has wrongly refused to pay her interest on council tax she overpaid. She says this has caused her distress and she wants the Council to pay her what she thinks it owes.

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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. (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.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Many years ago, Ms X sold her property and some months later, she phoned and informed the Council of this. The Council asked her to provide proof in writing of when she left. The Council has no record that Ms X did so. Therefore, it closed the account on the date the new owners purchased the property and held Ms X liable for the council tax on the property up to that date.
6. The Council did not have a forwarding address but eventually managed to contact Ms X in 2010. It issued her with a cheque for the council tax she had overpaid but she did not cash it and so the Council cancelled the cheque.
7. Despite selling the property, Ms X continued to pay council tax every month.
8. The Council identified an email address for Ms X in 2021 and asked her to send it bank statements to confirm the payments had been made from one of her accounts. Ms X responded towards the end of 2022 with the necessary proof. The Council made a number of checks and then refunded her around £20,000 in unnecessary council tax payments.
9. Ms X is now querying the sale date the Council used when calculating her council tax because she says she sold the property around 6 months earlier. The Council says if she wishes to do so, she can appeal this, but she will need to send in written proof of when she sold the property.
10. Ms X also wants the Council to pay interest on the £20,000 she paid in additional council tax. The Council refuses to do so, not least because it considers the fault to be Ms X’s and not its own.
11. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council has explained what Ms X needs to do if she wishes to appeal the sale date of the property.
12. In relation to Ms X’s request that the Council pay her interest, there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation. The Council took reasonable steps to trace her, but ultimately it was Ms X’s decision to continue to pay council tax on a property she did not own. The Council cannot be held responsible for her actions.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman