Summary: Mr B complains he could not view or pay his council tax on his online account with the Council for around two years, due to a system fault the Council did not notice. He also complains the Council gave him wrong advice which resulted in enforcement action being taken against him for council tax arrears, and about the Council’s lack of communication. I have ended my investigation of the complaint. The Council has already taken suitable action to remedy Mr B’s complaint. We would not be able to achieve anything more for Mr B so it is not worthwhile to continue the investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr B complains he could not view or pay his council tax bills on his online account with the Council for around two years, due to a system fault the Council did not notice. He also complains the Council gave him wrong advice which resulted in enforcement action being taken against him for council tax arrears, and about the Council’s lack of communication.
2. Mr B says the Council’s actions have financially and mentally impacted him and have caused distress to him and his family. He would like the enforcement fees to be cancelled.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. 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 no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I read Mr B’s complaint and spoke to him about it on the phone.
6. I considered information provided by Mr B and the Council.
7. Mr B and the Council have had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I have considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

8. The Local Government Finance Act 1992 gives local authorities power to levy and collect a dwelling tax. This is known as council tax.
9. The council tax bill for the year is due on 1 April. A council will usually collect payment through monthly instalments. If the liable person misses any instalment, the council will send them a reminder. If a payment is still not made or a further payment missed, then the entire outstanding balance will be due (that is the full amount for the rest of the year).
10. To use the various powers available to it to recover unpaid council tax, a council must apply to a magistrate’s court for a liability order against those it believes are liable. Once a council has a liability order it can take recovery action.
11. A liability order gives a council the legal power to take enforcement action to collect the council tax and court costs owed. The most commonly used powers are asking for deductions from benefits, getting an attachment of earnings (this means deductions are taken directly from earnings by an employer and passed to the council) or using enforcement agents. The council can decide which recovery method to use but it can only use one method for one liability order at one time.

What happened

12. This is a summary of events, outlining key facts and it does not cover everything that has occurred in this case.
13. In April 2022, Mr B moved into his property in Birmingham with his family.
14. In August 2023, a summons for non-payment of council tax was issued to Mr B which detailed a Special Payment Arrangement set up. This was for Mr B to make payments to clear his council tax account balance.
15. In February 2024, Mr B raised a complaint with the Council. He told it:
• He had been chasing the Council about not being able to set up an online account with it to view and pay his council tax since he moved into his property in April 2022. He said the Council had still not fixed the issue so he could not view or pay his council tax online.
• The Council told him in October 2023 it would fix the issue and he should ignore letters sent to him by the Council about his council tax, as they were automated. He said he was waiting for the Council to fix the issue as he was not comfortable paying his council tax by phone. He ignored the Council’s letters about his council tax as he says the Council advised him to, but he then had visits from enforcement agents.
16. In March 2024, Mr B asked his MP to get involved. The Council explained to the MP the system issue that had caused Mr B to be unable to set up an online account with it. It told them Mr B still did not maintain payment of his council tax regardless of this, and there was no record of the Council advising Mr B to ignore letters from it or that he did not need to pay council tax until it had resolved the issue with his online account. It said Mr B had since paid the Council, but it had correctly instructed the enforcement agents and so they may continue to chase Mr B for enforcement fees. Mr B’s MP told him what the Council had advised them.
17. In April 2024, Mr B contacted the Council again and told him his online account had now been set up and he could view and pay his council tax online. He also explained he would not have let his council tax account progress to recovery action, but the Council had given him advice to ignore letters from it about council tax. He told it he did not understand why it took the Council so long to notice and fix the system issue with his online account, and its communication with him had been poor.
18. In July 2024, the Council sent its final response to Mr B’s complaint to him. It told him:
• It considered it had correctly escalated his council tax for recovery by enforcement agents. A summons for non-payment of council tax was issued to Mr B in August 2023 which detailed a Special Payment Arrangement set up for payments to be made by Mr B to clear his council tax account balance, with the first payment due in September 2023.
• During Mr B’s telephone call to the Council in October 2023, it advised him he could ignore the liability order issued in September 2023 if he maintained the Special Payment Arrangement.
• Mr B missed a payment instalment in November 2023. The account remained in arrears so the Council referred Mr B’s council tax account for recovery action in January 2024. The Council told Mr B as he did not contact it during this period, the Council acted correctly in referring his account for recovery. It said it appeared Mr B misunderstood the advice given to him by the Council during the call in October 2023.

Analysis

19. During my investigation, the Council confirmed to me:
• Mr B had fully paid his council tax account;
• the enforcement agents had removed its enforcement fees; and
• no further enforcement action had been taken since Mr B had cleared his council tax account.
20. I have not investigated Mr B’s complaint further. This is because Mr B indicated he would like the enforcement fees to be cancelled, and he told me he would be happy to accept this as resolution to his complaint. The Council has confirmed the enforcement fees have been removed. So, I am satisfied Mr B has received the outcome he would like and this remedies his complaint. A further investigation would not achieve a different or worthwhile outcome.

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Final decision

21. I have ended my investigation and do not uphold Mr B’s complaint. A further investigation would not achieve a worthwhile outcome.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman