Summary: Miss X complained that the Council failed to agree an affordable repayment plan for her council tax arrears. We do not find the Council at fault.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council has failed to agree an affordable repayment plan for her council tax arrears, has added fees to these, and has failed to respond to her emails. Miss X says this has caused her real distress and uncertainty.

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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’. 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)
3. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
5. 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

6. We cannot usually investigate complaints about events that took place more than 12 months before they were raised with the Ombudsman. We can only exercise discretion to look back further if there are good reasons to do so.
7. Miss X first brought her complaint to the Ombudsman in December 2024, meaning anything that happened prior to December 2023 has been raised late.
8. Miss X has said the issues she has complained about go back to 2021, however I have seen no good reason why she could not have complained to us sooner. For this reason, I have started my investigation from December 2023.
9. Any mention below to events that took place before December 2023 or after December 2024 are for reference only.

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How I considered this complaint

10. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
11. Miss 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

Relevant law and policy

12. 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)
13. 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).
14. 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.
15. Most often councils take what is owed directly from the person’s benefits, from their wages (called getting an attachment of earnings order) or using enforcement agents. The council can decide how to recover what is owed but it can only use one method for one liability order at one time.
16. The Council’s website sets out information on how it will pursue council tax arrears. This explains that service users will be sent a reminder for any missed instalments and if they do not keep future payments up to date, they will receive a final notice and the Council will arrange for a summons to be issued. The website explains the Council will then seek a liability order, granting it the power to use external enforcement agents to start recovery action. The website explains any enforcement agent fees or court costs will be passed onto the service user.

What happened

17. I have summarised below some key events leading to Miss X’s complaint. While I have considered everything submitted, this is not intended to be a detailed account of what took place.
18. Miss X accrued council tax arrears between 2020 and 2025.
19. In the timeline I have investigated, the Council issued summonses for the arrears, and costs were included in these. The court then issued liability orders.
20. As Miss X had not made any payment arrangements with the Council since the start point of my investigation in December 2023 or returned any income and expenditure forms in that time, the Council referred the debts on to an enforcement agent.
21. In early 2024, Miss X asked the Council to meet her face to face to discuss the arrears. The Council explained it does not offer in-person appointments and asked Miss X to complete an income and expenditure form. The Council’s records do not show it received a completed income and expenditure form from Miss X.
22. The Council’s records show Miss X contacted the Council again to request an in-person meeting, but the Council has said it did not respond to this as it had already informed Miss X this was not possible.
23. Miss X then complained to the Council as she said she had been trying to resolve this situation for four years and the Council was not responding to her emails.
24. The Council responded to set out what arrears it had recorded for Miss X and inviting her to provide any reasons for disputing these. The Council also explained Miss X may be entitled to a discretionary reduction and recommended she take advice as well as providing information about debt management organisations. The Council apologised for times where it had not promptly responded to Miss X’s emails.

Analysis

25. Miss X has said the Council has failed to agree an affordable repayment plan to help her manage her arrears. However, I cannot see that Miss X ever provided details of her income and expenditure to the Council in the timeframe I have investigated. I could not find the Council at fault for failing to agree a repayment plan where it has not been provided with the relevant financial information.
26. The law says a council can serve a summons if council tax remains unpaid after it has issued a reminder. The Council issued reminders to Miss X in the timeframe I have investigated but the council tax arrears remained unpaid, so it was entitled to serve a summons, and I could not find it at fault here.
27. Once the court had issued liability orders, the Council was entitled to pass the debt on to enforcement agents, with the costs of this being added to the debt. The Council has followed the correct process in its pursuit of Miss X’s council tax arrears and so I could not find it at fault here.
28. The Council has accepted it did not respond to all Miss X’s emails promptly. This amounts to fault and would have caused uncertainty for Miss X, which is injustice. However, the Council has already apologised for this, and I find that is a suitable remedy to the injustice caused.

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Decision

29. I do not find fault with how the Council has managed Miss X’s council tax arrears. I find the Council at fault for not responding promptly to all Miss X’s emails, but I find the Council’s apology is a sufficient remedy to the injustice this caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman