West Northamptonshire Council (24 010 999)

Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 16 Oct 2024

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a delay by the Council in issuing a council tax bill. This is because the Council has provided a satisfactory response.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council delayed issuing a council tax bill. He says he should only have to pay from the date of the bill and not from the date he moved in.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. 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 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

  1. I considered information provided by Mr X. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

  1. On 17 May Mr X told the Council he would be moving into a property on 29 May. He expected to get a bill by the time he moved in.
  2. The Council issued the bill on 1 July. The instalments were £207 a month over seven months. If there had not been a delay the payments would have been £161 a month.
  3. Mr X complained and said the delay meant his monthly payments were higher. The Council apologised for the delay, reduced the payments to £161 a month and extended the payment period until May. The Council invited Mr X to apply for help from the hardship fund and invited him to further discuss the payment arrangements. The Council said it could not offer compensation or waive some of the charge.
  4. Mr X says he should not have to pay council tax from May because the Council delayed issuing the bill creating higher payments.
  5. The Council delayed sending the bill but I will not start an investigation because it has provided a satisfactory response. The Council apologised for the delay, reduced the payments, gave longer to pay and signposted Mr X to sources of support. There is nothing more I would expect the Council to do.
  6. Mr X is liable for council tax from the day he moved in and has benefitted from council services from that date. The delayed bill does not alter this liability and, as I have said, the Council’s response is a fair and proportionate response to the delay.

Back to top

Final decision

  1. We will not investigate this complaint because the Council has provided a satisfactory remedy.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Print this page

LGO logogram

Review your privacy settings

Required cookies

These cookies enable the website to function properly. You can only disable these by changing your browser preferences, but this will affect how the website performs.

View required cookies

Analytical cookies

Google Analytics cookies help us improve the performance of the website by understanding how visitors use the site.
We recommend you set these 'ON'.

View analytical cookies

In using Google Analytics, we do not collect or store personal information that could identify you (for example your name or address). We do not allow Google to use or share our analytics data. Google has developed a tool to help you opt out of Google Analytics cookies.

Privacy settings