Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council issuing threatening council tax demands for liability which was disputed by the resident. There is insufficient evidence of any significant injustice which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs x complained about the Council issuing threatening demand letters for council tax which she believes she did not owe. She did not receive the bills and reminders initially because they went to a different address. She says letters threatening court action were worrying and were defamatory. She wants the Council to pay £200 compensation for this stress.

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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, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X says the Council issued council tax reminders to an address which she no longer lived at. She did not receive them and when she contacted the Council she received reminders which advised that if no payments were received then a summons would be issued.
6. Mrs X says she was upset by the tone of the letters which she considered to be defamatory. She complained to the Council and it apologised for any distress caused by the letters but confirmed that it is required to include details of recovery procedure in its council tax demands and reminders. The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 sets out how councils should recover unpaid council tax. This sets out the timescales for recovery action and requires the billing authority to notify the taxpayer of the process.
7. If someone wishes to contest liability they may appeal to the Valuation Tribunal which is the body which deals with council tax liability disputes.
8. Mrs X believes the correspondence issued by the Council is defamatory. Defamation is a civil tort and is outside the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman. Only a court can determine if something published is defamatory and Mrs X has threatened to take legal action against the Council.
9. Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
10. In this case the Council has apologised for any distress caused by its correspondence and it did not serve a summons so no legal costs have been incurred which could be refunded.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council issuing threatening council tax demands for liability which was disputed by the resident. There is insufficient evidence of any significant injustice which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman