London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (24 016 218)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax arrears and costs. This is because the Council has removed the costs.
The complaint
- The complainant, Mrs X, says the Council served a summons for council tax arrears without issuing a reminder or final notice. Mrs X says she would have paid the arrears if she had been aware of them.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mrs X accrued council tax arrears in 2019 and 2020. The Council sent reminders. The Council also referred to the arrears when Mrs X set-up a direct debit in 2021. Mrs X did not pay the arrears.
- In late 2024 the Council issued a summons for the arrears; costs were included. Mrs X paid the arrears but said she would not pay the costs because the Council had not sent any reminders. The court issued a liability order in 2025 because Mrs X had not paid the costs; further costs were added.
- In response to her complaint the Council said it had issued reminders soon after the council tax was due and said the arrears were included in each annual council tax bill.
- The law says a council can serve a summons if council tax remains unpaid after it has issued a reminder. The Council had issued reminders so it could serve a summons. However, while the law allowed the Council to serve a summons, it may not have been reasonable for it to do so. The Council had not taken any action since about 2020 to recover the arrears and its next contact was in 2024 when it served a summons.
- I asked the Council to waive the costs because it could have asked for payment in 2024 rather than immediately serving a summons. If Mrs X still did not pay, then the Council could have served a summons.
- I will not start an investigation because the Council has waived all the costs and will not take any further action in relation to these historic arrears. This is a satisfactory response because it puts Mrs X back in the position she would have been in if the Council, in 2024, had asked for payment rather than serving a summons (which included costs).
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint because the Council has provided a satisfactory remedy.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman