Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a council tax error because the Council has provided a satisfactory remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council did not correctly handle his council tax after he reported he had moved. This caused a lot of stress and anxiety. Mr X wants compensation for the time he spent dealing with the issue and the impact on his mental health.

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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. In October Mr X told the council tax team he had moved. The Council failed to process this information and did not issue a final bill or close the account. Because the Council did not close the account it appeared Mr X was failing to pay his council tax. This led to the Council sending a letter on 16 November warning him it would take enforcement action if he did not make an arrangement to pay. The Council sent a reminder a few days later. Mr X says these letters caused a lot of stress and anxiety and had a negative impact on his mental health.
5. Mr X called the Council and it realised it had made an error. On 27 November the Council closed the account and issued a refund for £115. It sent an email confirming these actions.
6. In response to Mr X’s complaint the Council explained what had got wrong. It said an officer had made a mistake which it would address as a training issue. The Council apologised for its poor service and acknowledged the letters had caused stress and anxiety. The Council cancelled court costs of £47.50 which Mr X had accrued earlier in the year for council tax arrears unrelated to this issue.
7. The Council made a mistake which had a negative impact on Mr X. However, I will not start an investigation because the Council has already provided a satisfactory response. It rectified the mistake and explained what had gone wrong. It said it would address the error with the officer and it cancelled court costs. This is a satisfactory response and there is nothing more we would ask the Council to do. In saying this I note that Mr X has not incurred a financial loss, has received a degree of compensation through the cancellation of the court costs, and the problem was promptly resolved.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint because the Council has provided a satisfactory remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman