Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an increase in the complainant’s council tax instalments. This is because the Council has provided a fair response to the complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council increased his council tax payments after it made a mistake. This is causing financial hardship. Mr X says the Council could have used the ‘free’ month at the end of the year to avoid the increased payment.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. Mr X is a student and receives the council tax student discount. He was paying council tax of £139 a month. The Council misinterpreted some information from his university and removed the student discount.
5. The Council quickly realised its mistake and reinstated the discount. It issued a new bill but there was not time to collect the direct debit due on 30 October for £139. The Council recalculated the instalments from November to March and asked Mr X to pay £160 each month. The overall amount of council tax due did not increase.
6. Mr X spoke to the Council on 26 October. The Council gave him the opportunity to make an immediate payment of £139 and said it would then recalculate the remaining instalments and reduce them back to £139.
7. Mr X said he would call back to make the telephone payment. Mr X did not call back so the payments remained at £160 from November.
8. In response to Mr X’s complaint the Council apologised and explained what had happened.
9. Mr X says the Council’s error is causing financial hardship because the amount due each month has increased.
10. The Council made a mistake. However, it quickly corrected the error and gave Mr X the option of making an immediate payment which would have meant his remaining instalments did not increase. The Council also explained what had gone wrong and apologised. This was a fair response to the complaint and I am satisfied an investigation is not needed. The instalments were calculated until the end of the financial year and there was no ‘free’ month the Council could have used as Mr X suggested.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint because the Council has provided a fair and satisfactory response to the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman