Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council asked the complainant’s employer to make deductions from her pay without first notifying her of the arrears. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Ms X, says the Council sent an Attachment of Earnings Order (AEO) to her employer without notifying her of the council tax arrears and giving her a chance to respond. Ms X wants the Council to immediately withdraw the AEO and apologise to her and to her employer.

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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 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 Ms X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and an email notifying Ms X of the arrears. I also considered our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. The court issued a liability order for council tax arrears for 2021/22. Once a liability order has been issued a council can take further recovery action; this can include using bailiffs, a charging order or deductions from someone’s pay or benefits. Ms X made a payment arrangement for the arrears in 2022.
5. In April 2024 the Council sent Ms X an email which said she had arrears of £150 and there was a liability order in place. The Council asked Ms X to get in touch within 14 days to arrange payment. The email said the Council would take further action if she did not pay or make an arrangement. Ms X says she did not see this email because it went to her junk folder.
6. The Council arranged an AEO. Ms X found out about it in June. Ms X complained the Council had not told her of the arrears or given her a chance to address the issue. Ms X said the Council had tarnished her reputation with her employer and damaged her reputation. Ms X wanted the Council to remove the AEO, check the debt and apologise.
7. The Council explained it had a liability order and the arrears relate to 2021/22. It referred to the email it sent in April which notified Ms X of the arrears and the possibility of further action if she did not pay. The Council said it served the AEO because Ms X had not responded. The Council did not uphold the complaint because it had notified Ms X of the arrears.
8. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The liability order gave the Council the power to use a range of recovery methods including using an AEO. It is unfortunate the email went to Ms X’s junk folder but this was not due to Council fault and the Council did alert Ms X to the outstanding arrears. It appears the Council waited for more than 14 days before issuing the AEO. I appreciate Ms X may have been distressed by the AEO, and may feel her reputation has been damaged, but there is nothing to suggest fault by the Council.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman