Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Liability Order as there is insufficient injustice to warrant investigation and the Council has acted to remedy the matter.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains that the Council will not remove a Liability Order which could affect her credit rating.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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

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

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My assessment

6. Ms X says that the Council wrongly held her responsible for a Council tax debt on a previously owned house. Whilst the matter was resolved, she says that the Liability Order is still extant and this affects her credit rating.
7. A Liability Order is not the same as a County Court Judgment (CCJ). While CCJs are recorded on a credit report and can affect a credit score, liability orders do not automatically show up on a credit report. This means that they do not directly affect a person’s credit score.
8. I do not therefore consider that there is such significant injustice as to warrant investigation.
9. Further, the Council has asked the Enforcement Agent to consider this complaint separately and report back to the Council. I consider this action to remedy this part of the complaint.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient injustice to warrant investigation and the Council has remedied the matter.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman