Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to pursue Mr X for unpaid council tax. This is because an investigation would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council pursued him for unpaid council tax for properties he did not own.

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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))

3. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X complained to the Council after it spent several months pursuing him for unpaid council tax relating to several properties he did not own. He advised the Council its actions had caused him stress and negatively impacted his mental health.
7. The Council did not uphold Mr X’s complaint. It explained that Mr X was registered as the owner for the properties in question on the land registry and it was therefore obligated to hold him responsible for paying council tax for these properties. When the Council received notice from the Valuation office agency that the properties had been removed from the registry and Mr X was not liable, the Council suspended all collections action and refunded Mr X any payments he had made. Mr X remained unhappy with the Council's actions and brought the complaint to the Ombudsman.
8. The evidence shows that in holding Mr X responsible for council tax in relation to these properties that it was acting on information available to it at the time. As soon as the Council became aware Mr X was not liable, it behaved in the manner we would expect and refunded Mr X the payments he had made. This is in line with the approach the Ombudsman would expect the Council to take and therefore an investigation would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.

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Final decision

9. 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