Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s alleged failure to contact Mr X regarding his outstanding council tax bill. This is because an investigation would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council should have tried to contact him by phone or email when he failed to pay the outstanding council tax bills at his previous property.

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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 Mr X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X moved out of his previous property in December 2022 and neglected to inform the Council he had left or provide a forwarding address.
6. Mr X went on to receive notice of an outstanding council tax debt connected to his previous property in September 2023.
7. Mr X complained to the Council, saying that rather than sending reminder notices to his old address, it should have contacted him by email or phone to collect the outstanding debt. Mr X was also unhappy the Council had eventually referred the debt to an external collections agency and an additional fee had been added to the debt.
8. The Council explained that due to the number of properties and accounts within the Council’s remit it was not possible to personally contact individuals with outstanding debt on their accounts. The Council agreed to reduce the outstanding debt by £75 to account for a compliance fee Mr X had already paid and arranged a payment plan to address the arrears. Mr X remains unhappy with the situation and has referred the complaint to us.
9. Mr X was responsible for alerting the Council that he had vacated the property and to provide a forwarding address. The Council was not made aware of Mr X’s forwarding address and so has sent bills and reminder notices to Mr X’s last known address on file. When it has not received a response or payment, it has referred the matter to an external collections company. This is in keeping with the law and what we would expect. The Ombudsman cannot criticise the Council for its actions, as it was entitled to take them. The Council has agreed to reduce the balance despite the fact it was not obliged to do this. This was a reasonable action for the Council to take. An investigation would not find fault with the way the Council has handled this matter.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because an investigation would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman