Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to pass Miss X’s council tax debt to an enforcement agency. This is because an investigation would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council failed to communicate with her before passing her debt to an enforcement agency.

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

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My assessment

5. Miss X complained to the Council in October 2023 after it referred her council tax debt to an enforcement agency. She acknowledged she had missed a payment but complained that the enforcement agency applied a fee to the outstanding balance.
6. The Council explained that having passed the debt to the enforcement agency, Miss X had failed to make payments in line with the payment plan and this caused fees to accrue on the account. The Council confirmed the total balance due and advised Miss X to discuss a payment plan with the enforcement agency if she wished to clear the outstanding balance in instalments.
7. Miss X has brought this complaint to the Ombudsman as she wants us to find the Council at fault. In response to our enquiries the Council has confirmed that when it passed the debt to the enforcement agency, it issued a letter giving her 14 days to pay or make contact before further fees were added to the outstanding balance. Once the Council has passed the debt to the enforcement agency, it becomes the agency’s debt to collect. The evidence indicates the agency has acted in line with what we would expect in attempting to recoup the outstanding balance. An investigation would therefore be unlikely to result in a finding of fault on the Council’s part.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Miss 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