Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about court costs for council tax arrears. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because we cannot investigate any matter that forms part of court proceedings.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, says the Council has scammed him by charging court costs even though he paid the council tax and the case did not go to court. Mr X wants the Council to refund the court costs.

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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 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))
3. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and a copy of the summons. I also considered our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The law says people must pay their council tax before the instalment date stated on the bill. If people pay late on more than two occasions they lose the right to pay by instalment. The Council can then demand they pay the full amount which is due for the rest of the year. If they do not pay the Council can serve a summons and ask the magistrates for a liability order. The person incurs court costs when the Council issues the summons. To avoid a court hearing the person must pay the council tax and costs.
6. The Council issued council tax reminders in April and May. The Council told Mr X what would happen if he missed another payment. Mr X missed the August payment. The Council served a Final Notice which required him to pay all the remaining council tax. Mr X made a partial payment. The Council served a summons for the remaining council tax of £119 and court costs of £60.
7. Mr X paid the full amount before the court hearing. Mr X says the Council should refund the court costs because he paid the council tax and there was no court hearing. The Council explained to Mr X why it had served a summons and said it would not withdraw the costs because they correctly charged. It sent Mr X a copy of the summons.
8. Mr X says the Council has scammed him and broken the law.
9. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council followed the correct process in serving a summons because Mr X paid late on three occasions and he did not pay all the outstanding council tax after receiving the Final Notice. It is correct that court costs are charged when the Council issues a summons and these costs remain even if someone pays the council tax before the court hearing. The Council followed the correct process before issuing the summons and there is no suggestion of fault.
10. Serving a summons, and charging costs, form part of the start of legal proceedings. The law says we cannot investigate any matter that forms part of the start of legal proceedings. This means we cannot investigate anything linked to the service of the summons or the inclusion of court costs within the summons. I can confirm that Mr X was required to pay both the council tax and the court costs even though there was no court hearing.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because we cannot investigate any matter that forms part of the start of legal action.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman