West Northamptonshire Council (23 018 105)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council tax payments as the matter has been remedied.
The complaint
- Mr X complains that the Council told him he was in arrears of Council tax despite paying by Direct Debit.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 or continue with 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X says that he was told in 2023 that he was in arrears of Council tax despite paying by Direct Debit.
- The Council explained that two payments by another party had accidently been applied to his Council tax account which meant that he appeared to have paid more Council tax than he had.
- The Council adjusted his account when this was realised but failed to recalculate his payments which led to the arrears letter.
- The Council has apologised for this, ensured his account was correct, and offered £75 compensation for his time and trouble.
- I appreciate that this matter caused stress to Mr X but I am satisfied that the matter has been appropriately remedied by the Council. There are no grounds therefore to investigate this matter further.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman