West Northamptonshire Council (24 015 591)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 18 Dec 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council tax premiums because there is a right of appeal to a Valuation Tribunal and part of the complaint has been remedied.
The complaint
- Mr X complains that the Council wrongly included a Council tax premium to his property and failed to process a discount on the same property.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
- The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X says that the Council added a 100% premium to his Council tax bill whilst it was undergoing repairs and failed to add a discount for the same property.
- Any dispute about liability, discounts or exemptions from Council tax are a matter for the Valuation Tribunal. The tribunal is an independent body which can determine any dispute about such decisions. I see no reason why an appeal could not be made in this case and so the complaint is out of jurisdiction.
- The Council has apologised for issuing a bill to an incorrect property and it has waived the costs relating to this and suspended the recovery action. I consider this a remedy to this part of the complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has a right of appeal to a Valuation Tribunal and part of the complaint has been remedied.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman