Summary: Ms X complained the Council cancelled her direct debit and council tax account after acting on fraudulent information. This caused a large amount of arrears to build. We did not find the Council at fault.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council acted on false information that led to it closing her direct debit and council tax account without notifying her. She later received letters about enforcement action for outstanding payments at her address for an unknown person. She says this caused her significant distress and frustration at trying to resolve the matter.

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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 must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended).
3. We may investigate complaints made on behalf of someone else if they have given their consent. (Local Government Act 1974, section 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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What I have and have not investigated

5. I have investigated events from January 2024 up until December 2024 (when Ms X received the Council’s final stage complaint response). I have briefly referred to some recent events since for relevant context.
6. We expect councils to have the opportunity to formally consider new or ongoing matters under its complaints procedure first before we investigate. Ms X is entitled to make a new complaint if she is dissatisfied with the Council’s actions after December 2024.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I discussed the complaint with Miss Y, who brought the complaint on Ms X’s behalf, and considered her views.
8. I made enquiries of the Council and considered its written responses and information it provided, as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
9. Miss Y and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Background

10. Ms X owns her property. She paid her council tax by direct debit. Just prior to these events, in the 2023/2024 year, she paid in instalments of £121.

What happened – summary of key relevant events

11. In January 2024, the Council received an online form for Ms X’s address, from Person Z stating they had moved in as the occupant. The Council created a council tax account for Person Z and sent a council tax bill addressed to them, at Ms X’s address. Ms X said she did not receive this.
12. The Council closed Ms X’s account. It sent her a closing bill. This said, “reason for bill: closed account”. There was an overpayment, so no further payments were necessary. Ms X said she did not receive this.
13. In early August 2024, Ms X emailed the Council. She had received letters from enforcement agents addressed to Person Z and they were pursuing unpaid council tax. Ms X confirmed she lived there, she did not know Person Z and they did not reside there. She did not know why her direct debit had been stopped and the Council had not notified her of any changes to her account. She said it failed to carry out checks to verify Person Z’s address and they were building up debt for her address. She wanted the Council to remove it, reinstate her own account and to continue her original monthly payments.
14. The next day, the Council deleted Person Z’s account and stopped recovery action against it. It reopened Ms X’s account.
15. In mid-August 2024, Ms X rang the Council about her dissatisfaction. She then made a formal complaint. She did not want to be held liable for the debt by the fraudulent behaviour of someone else and negligence by the Council. She set ongoing payments at £121. The Council sent Ms X a council tax bill with the remaining amounts due up to March 2025. The monthly payments were higher to account for the arrears built up (between February and August 2024) and the shorter period to pay before the next financial year.
16. In September 2024, the Council responded to Ms X’s complaint. It had acted on the online form submitted by Person Z and issued a bill. The bill was not returned to it as not known at the address, so it was under the assumption Person Z resided there. As no payments were made, it proceeded with recovery actions against Person Z. It did not get contact from Ms X until the start of August and then it withdrew this action. It noted Person Z may have misused its online system, but it was automated. It could not monitor every single account due to the number of residents. It apologised for the mistake which it had no control over. It was satisfied it followed the correct procedure in her case. It did not uphold her complaint.
17. At the start of December 2024, the Council sent a final response to Ms X’s complaint. It outlined the actions it had taken and why. The revised bill included increased amounts to enable her to clear the outstanding council tax liability before the end of the financial year. It advised her to get in contact to make a more suitable arrangement to avoid incurring additional recovery costs. It apologised for any distress and inconvenience caused. It partially upheld her complaint.
18. A few days later, Ms X called the Council to find out the balance outstanding on her account. Ms X then complained to us.

Events since Ms X’s complaint to us

19. In mid-December 2024, the Council sent a reminder to Ms X as instalment payments were not up to date. Ms X had continued to pay £121 since September 2024.
20. Between January 2025 and March 2025, Ms X had contacted the Council around potential reductions and discounts. It later issued Ms X the bill for 2025/2026. The monthly payments were £165 across the year. She has paid these since April 2025.
21. Ms X currently has arrears outstanding for the previous year of around £700. It appears the Council is taking recovery action for this.
22. In response to my enquiries, the Council offered a payment of £100 for Ms X’s time and trouble with her complaint.

Analysis

Closure of Ms X’s account and notifications

23. The Council reasonably acted on information from Person Z. I recognise Ms X’s concerns about whether the Council carried out checks to satisfy itself Person Z lived at her address. But councils are not required to do so – they accept self-referrals where the name of the occupier and the date of occupation is provided. Unfortunately, a third party made this change. It was not through Ms X’s doing, but this is not fault by the Council.
24. The Council then promptly sent Ms X a notification of a bill where it said it closed her account. This is appropriate. I have seen a copy and cannot say non-receipt by Ms X was due to fault by the Council.
25. When Ms X later contacted the Council about letters from the enforcement agent, the Council quickly acted to rectify and correct the respective accounts. It did not charge Ms X costs related to recovery action against Person Z. I do not find fault.

The outstanding arrears

26. The Council explained how it decided to bill her for the remaining amount. I note the Council did this in the interests of allowing her to clear the arrears before the next year’s bill and spread the costs. It gave Ms X the option to make a more suitable arrangement. Although she did get in contact, the evidence does not show she asked about changing this or any reasons for doing so, such as financial hardship. Overall, I do not criticise the Council for its actions.
27. Since September 2024, Ms X has paid towards her council tax. She paid in £121 instalments (which is her choice), in line with what she did before her account was closed. However, this does not make up for the 7 months shortfall of unpaid tax between February and August 2024. Ms X wanted the debt removed as she says it was not her fault the payments were not taken.
28. This is not a proportionate response to the situation. Throughout this time, Ms X was always liable for council tax, as she remained at the address. I recognise it was the Council who stopped collecting her payments, not Ms X. But had the third party change not happened (which the Council is not at blame for) she would have been paying it regularly every month. The Council is entitled to pursue the outstanding amount.
29. I have also given weight to some other factors. There is reasonably some onus on Ms X to check her bank account and had she done so, she could have contacted the Council sooner when it was not taking the payments each month. She also could have contacted the Council when she did not receive a council tax bill for 2024/2025 addressed to her. She had the benefit of that money in her account in the meantime.
30. While the issues were not down to Council fault, to its credit, the Council has apologised for Ms X’s distress and frustration. The Council has made a positive offer of £100 to Ms X for her time and trouble, which she has accepted.

Events since Ms X’s complaint to us

31. I note events have moved on since. This includes further actions with Ms X’s council tax with new information about changes of circumstances, discounts and recovery action by the Council. These are different and ongoing issues, separate from Ms X’s original complaint to the Council. As per Paragraphs 5 and 6, this is not within the scope of my investigation, and I am not considering events after December 2024. On balance, I am satisfied with the Council’s actions up to this point.

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Decision

32. I do not find the Council at fault. I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman