Summary: Ms X complained the Council took recovery action for council tax she did not owe for a property she previously lived in. She also complained its communication with her was poor. We found fault by the Council on both matters. As a result Ms X was caused unnecessary distress and inconvenience. The Council agreed to apologise to Ms X and make her a symbolic payment in recognition of the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council took recovery action for council tax she did not owe for a property she previously lived in. She stated the Council did not contact her about the matter and she was unaware it thought she owed council tax until she received a letter from its enforcement agents. Ms X also complained the Council and its enforcement agents did not reply to communications she sent in response, resulting in enforcement agents visiting her home.
2. Ms X says the Council’s actions caused her stress, distress, frustration and inconvenience.

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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 must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

7. There are laws and regulations that control how councils collect council tax payments and how they can make people pay council tax they owe. (Council Tax [Administration and Enforcement] Regulations 1992)
8. Laws and regulations also control how enforcement agents can collect money owed to the council. (The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007)
9. The council tax bill for the year is due on 1 April. A council will usually collect this through monthly instalments. If a person who has to pay council tax misses any instalment, the council will send them a reminder. If they still do not pay, or miss another payment, then they must pay all they owe (that is the full amount for the rest of the year).
10. Councils who want to recover unpaid council tax have to ask the magistrate’s court for a liability order against people it thinks owe it the money. Once a council has a liability order it can take action to recover the money and any court costs owed.
11. Councils should be prepared to work directly with someone who owes money at any point and can stop enforcement action at any time. They should consider doing this whenever appropriate.

What happened

12. What follows is a summary of the key events in the complaint. It does not show everything that happened.
13. Between January 2018 and February 2019 Ms X lived in flat Y located in property 1. Her rent was inclusive of council tax. The Council classed property 1 as a House In Multiple Occupation (HMO).
14. On 1 March 2019 a third party told the Council Ms X no longer lived at flat Y.
15. On 7 May 2019 Ms X told the Council she was living at a new address in its area, and she registered for council tax at her new home.
16. Also in May property 1 was sold to a new owner.
17. In March 2020 the Revenues Inspector decided property 1 was not an HMO. It said each flat within the building should have a council banding and bill.
18. The Council told the Valuation Office that each flat within building Y should be a self-contained flat with its own council tax banding. The Valuation Office agreed, and flat Y was given its own council tax banding. The Council registered Ms X as the liable party for council tax at flat Y, using the latest tenancy information it held.
19. The Council issued council tax bills for flat Y to Ms X for the financial years 2019/2020, 2020/2021, 2021/2022 and 2023/2024. It sent the bills to flat Y. As Ms X no longer lived in flat Y, she did not receive the bills and was unaware the Council thought she was still liable for council tax.
20. No council tax was paid for flat Y for the financial years listed above and so the Council issued Ms X with summons for each financial year. It obtained liability orders from the Magistrates Court in April 2022, August 2023 and August 2024. Ms X was unaware as all correspondence continued to be sent to flat Y.
21. The Council passed the liability orders to its enforcement agents however they did not make any progress on recovering the debt until September 2024.
22. On 25 September 2024 Ms X received 2 letters (dated 18 September 2024 and sent to her current address) from the Council’s enforcement agents saying she owed council tax for flat Y. The letters said enforcement agents would visit her home and remove her goods for sale.
23. Ms X contacted the Council on 25,26 and 27 September. She explained she moved from flat Y in February 2019 and provided details of her current tenancy and council tax bills for that address. Ms X did not receive any acknowledgement or replies to her emails. In a telephone call Ms X was told by the Council the liability remained open and recover action would not be put on hold.
24. Ms X also emailed the Council’s enforcement agents on 26 September, but she did not receive an acknowledgement. She spoke with them on 27 September and a hold was placed on recovery action for 5 days to allow her to provide evidence of when her tenancy a flat Y ended.
25. On 1 October Ms X’s Councillor contacted the Council on her behalf asking it to investigate her concerns she was being pursued for council tax she did not owe.
26. On 3 October the Council’s enforcement agents lifted the hold on recovery action.
27. On 9 October enforcement agents attended Ms X’s home.
28. On the same day Ms X called the Council. It told her the information she provided did not show when her tenancy at flat Y had ended. It said she would need to provide this before it could end her liability for council tax for flat Y. It refused to put a hold on recovery action. Ms X made a formal complaint but received no acknowledgement.
29. Later that day Ms X provided confirmation of the date her tenancy for flat Y ended.
30. On 10 October the Council replied to Ms X’s councillor’s enquiry. It said it had placed a hold on recovery action while it investigated Ms X’s case.
31. On 15 October the Council told Ms X and her Councillor that it had withdrawn all recovery action for unpaid council tax for flat Y and it had deleted her account. It apologised for any distress and inconvenience caused.
32. On 29 October the Council told Ms X it would not reply to her complaint because it had responded to an enquiry from her Councillor earlier that month.
33. Ms X complained the Ombudsman as she remained unhappy with the response she received from the Council.
34. We made enquiries of the Council. It told us:
• when a person is made liable for council rax they are allocated a personal identification number (PIN). Ms X’s PIN for flat Y was different to the PIN for the address she moved to in May 2019. This was because her middle name was included on the account for flat Y and so a different PIN was created for her new tenancy. It said it amended Ms X’s PIN for her new address in September 2021.
• when Ms X was made liable for council tax at flat Y it was unaware she was paying council tax for a different property under a different PIN.
• it has deleted Ms X’s council tax liability for flat Y and so reminder notices, summons and liability orders for the account can no longer be viewed. It provided details of liability orders granted by the Magistrates Court.
• it closed Ms X’s account for flat Y as soon as sufficient evidence was provided demonstrating her tenancy ended in February 2019
• the council tax bills, reminders and summons it sent to Ms X at flat Y were not returned undelivered by the Royal Mail and so it did not have reason to believe she had not received them.
• it tries to answer emails as quickly as possible, but it receives lot of enquiries and this means it cannot answer as quickly as it would like to. It is making efforts to improve its response times.
• it has a 10 working day timeframe to reply to enquiries from Councillors. It replied within in this timeframe to Ms X’s Councillor’s enquiry.
• it tries to acknowledge complaints within 48 hours, but this did not happen in Ms X’s case. This is because of limited resources.
• it’s enforcement agents aim to reply to correspondence within 14 working days. If a matter is urgent it should be raised by calling their contact centre.
• it offered to make a symbolic payment to Ms X of £100 in recognition of the distress caused by the enforcement agents visit of 9 October 2024.

Finding

35. The Council should have closed Ms X’s council tax account for flat Y when it was informed, she no longer lived there in March 2019. Its failure to do so is fault and meant it thought Ms X continued to be liable for council tax for her former home.
36. Ms X told the Council she was living at a new address in May 2019. It allocated a different PIN to her new council tax account and so it did not realise she was paying council tax at a different address. This administrative error is fault.
37. The Council realised its error in September 2021, and it amended Ms X’s PIN. However the Council did not correct its records for flat Y and so it continued to think Ms X was liable for council tax at her former home. This is also fault.
38. As a result of the identified fault the Council began recovery action for unpaid council tax for flat Y. It sent all correspondence to flat Y and so Ms X was unaware of the recovery action the Council had taken including obtaining liability orders from the Magistrate’s Court.
39. Ms X only became aware of the action taken against her when she received two letters from its enforcement agents in September 2024. This caused Ms X distress. This is in injustice.
40. To try and resolve the matter Ms X contacted both the Council and its enforcement agents on multiple occasions between 25 September and 9 October. This caused her unnecessary inconvenience.
41. Ms X did not receive any reply to her written communications. As a result Ms X was caused additional distress as she was unaware what was happening. This is fault. She was also put to the additional time and trouble of pursuing a reply, contacting her Councillor and obtaining the documents required to settle the matter. It also failed to acknowledge her complaint within its published timescales. This is injustice.
42. Ms X spoke with council tax officers about her case buy they refused to put a hold on recovery action. I note the Council did so once it considered the enquiry from Ms X’s Councillor. The information provided by Ms X and her Councillor was the same and so I do not see why it did not place a hold on recovery action prior to considering her Councillor’s request.
43. I note the Council’s enforcement agents did place a hold on recovery action for five days. I am concerned this timeframe is not long enough to allow the requested documentation to be obtained from third parties.
44. As a result enforcement agents visited Ms X’s home. While I understand enforcement agents did not take possession of Ms X’s good the event was understandably very stressful and distressing for her. This is injustice.
45. I note the Council has offered to make a symbolic payment to Ms X in recognition of the injustice caused to her. However I do not consider it adequately addresses the injustice caused to her.

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Agreed Action

46. Within one month of final decision the Council will:
• Apologise to Ms X in writing. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
• Pay Ms X £300 in recognition of the avoidable distress and inconvenience caused to her by the Council’s enforcement agents visiting her home and the poor communication she received from the Council.
47. Within three months of my final decision the Council should:
• ensure emails to its council tax department receive an automated acknowledgment so senders know they have been received. The automated acknowledgement should make clear that senders should call the council tax department if a matter is urgent.
• share a copy of this final decision with council tax staff to identify learning from this complaint.
48. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

49. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed to take the above actions to remedy the injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman