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

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council sent him a summons for late payment of council tax. He also complained the Council cashed cheques he sent to clear the outstanding debt and this created a credit on the account.

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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))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mr X pays for his council tax by postal cheque and sent a council tax instalment to the Council earlier this year.
6. The Council sent Mr X a summons for outstanding council tax when it did not receive Mr X’s monthly council tax instalment by the agreed payment date. Mr X then sent the Council a further check for the full outstanding balance on the account. When the Council cashed both cheques, this created a credit on the account.
7. The Council issued Mr X a refund for the overpayment and the court summons, but Mr X complained about the Council’s management of the account and requested compensation. The Council explained its systems issue summons automatically in cases of late payment and it did not consider Mr X was due a financial award.
8. Mr X wants us to find the Council at fault for the credit created on his account and the summons he received. The evidence shows the Council issued the summons as it had not received payment from Mr X by the agreed deadline; this is in line with what we would expect. Once the Council cashed Mr X’s cheques it provided him with a refund and waived the summons fee; these were reasonable actions for the Council to take. There is no evidence of wrongdoing in the Council’s actions and so an investigation into this matter would be unlikely to find evidence of fault on the Council’s part.

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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