Summary: Ms D complained about the Council’s handling of her council tax liability for a property she was not living at. She said she experienced distress and has financial costs as a result. We found no fault by the Council in how it handled Ms D’s council tax liability and recovery. However, there was some fault as it should have shared information about its Discretionary Council Tax Relief scheme sooner. The Council will apologise to acknowledge the limited injustice this caused her.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Ms D, complained about the Council’s handling of her council tax liability for a property she was not living in due to disrepair. She said it has wrongly:
• held her liable for council tax and failed to share a final bill for the property;
• failed to share reminders and payment notifications before a bill was issued in October 2024 and court summons were served; and
• issued court summons which impacted her credit score.
2. Ms D said, as a result, she experienced distress, uncertainty, and had additional costs which impacted her health.

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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. 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)
5. 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)
6. 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

7. I considered evidence provided by Ms D and Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. Ms D 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

Council tax

9. The Local Government Finance Act 1992 sets out who is liable to pay council tax on eligible properties. This includes residents who has a leasehold or tenancy agreement.
10. 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)
11. 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).
12. 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.
13. In exceptional circumstances, the law says councils can decide not to collect some or all of a council tax debt. (S13A(1)(c) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended))

Council Policy

14. The Council has some exemptions to when individuals may not be liable for council tax. This does not include when a tenant has been decanted.
15. The Council has a Discretionary Relief Scheme which aims to support individuals who are experiencing hardship due to exceptional circumstances who require help to meet their council tax liability. To be eligible applicants must:
• be liable to pay council tax, and no discounts or exemptions applies; and
• demonstrate financial help is needed to pay council tax, and steps are being taken to reduce any hardship; and
• share information about income and expenditures for the Council to consider.

What happened

16. Ms D is a tenant of a housing association property for which she is liable to pay council tax with a single person discount.
17. In late 2023 her housing association decanted her from the property due to disrepair. It placed her in a bed & breakfast accommodation.
18. The Council sent Ms D’s council tax bills by post to her housing association property until April 2024. After this its bills were sent electronically. Her single person discount was removed from when she left the property as it was unoccupied.
19. Ms D made some council tax payments, but these did not cover the full cost of her liability for her housing association property.
20. In Summer 2024 the Council sent Ms D a Court summons by post to her housing association property due to arrears.
21. Ms D contacted the Council and it agreed to put a hold on recovery action and to cancel the Court summons.
22. In August 2023 the Council placed Ms D in temporary accommodation following her homelessness application. This was to be until she could move back into her housing association property. She therefore became liable for council tax at her temporary accommodation.
23. The Council sought information from Ms D’s housing association about whether the tenancy had ended. The housing association confirmed her tenancy had not ended. It would only end the tenancy if the Council placed Ms D somewhere else permanently. This was because it believed the Council was responsible for the repairs.
24. In October 2024 the Council sent Ms D a letter about her council tax arrears. It warned if she did not pay, it would lead to Court summons and additional costs.
25. Ms D called the Council to contest the arrears, which did not resolve her concerns. However, it put a hold on the Court summons for two months. She subsequently complained to the Council. She said:
• she had received its letter in October 2024, but she had not received bills and reminders prior to this;
• she had paid council tax for a property she had not lived in since December 2023. She questioned why she was still liable for the accommodation, which she believed should be the housing associations responsibility; and
• the Court summons she received had caused her stress, in particular due to her health conditions.
26. In response the Council did not uphold her complaint. It explained:
• under its policy it has no council tax reduction for unoccupied properties and Ms D remained the person liable under the tenancy;
• it had sought information from the housing association whether Ms D had been removed from the tenancy and it accepted liability for council tax. It had put a hold on recovery action to allow for this. If this was received, it could amend the liability and refund any credits on the account; and
• it had shared reminder notices, which explained the reasons for being issued. This included missed payments and it had offered special payment arrangements.
27. Ms D asked the Council to escalate her complaint as she found it unfair she was being charged council tax for two properties. She said this was because the housing association would not release her from the tenancy, which she could not occupy. She was also concerned about Court summons impact on her credit score.
28. In November 2024 the Council provided its final complaint response. It did not change its view. This was because the housing association had confirmed she remained a tenant, and she therefore remained liable for council tax whether the property was occupied or not. If said if the liability changed it would issue a new bill. It also explained council tax Court summons do not impact credit scores.
29. Ms D asked the Ombudsman to consider her complaint. She felt the Council had not taken her personal circumstances into account, and said her tenancy agreement with the housing association should have been terminated.
30. In response to our enquiries the Council shared information about its bills and reminders to Ms D. It confirmed it told her about its Council Tax Discretionary Relief scheme in January 2025, and some information about its relief scheme had been shared in Autumn 2023 when she moved into the housing association property. It also shared Ms D has since applied and it had found she was not eligible due to her excess income.

Analysis and findings

Ms D’s liability for council tax

31. Ms D was decanted by her housing association in late 2023 due to disrepair issues. I acknowledge there was a dispute between it and the Council about who was liable for the repairs.
32. However, Ms D has remained the tenant through her tenancy agreement with the housing association since she moved into the property. The fact the landlord refused to remove her from the agreement meant she remains the person liable to pay council tax, until she is no longer on the tenancy agreement.
33. The Council was therefore not at fault for pursuing her Council tax liability, rather it was required to do so.

Bills, reminders and Court summons

34. I understand Ms D did not receive some of the council tax bills and reminders. The Council showed it shared the bills at the time and made these available to her when she raised her concerns with the Council.
35. The Council was required to send the bills to her housing association address or electronically. This is what the Council did. I cannot say why the redirection of Ms D’s post did not work. However, I have therefore not found the Council at fault.
36. I acknowledge the frustration and uncertainty Ms D experienced when she became aware of her arrears and the Court summons. However, there was no fault in the process the Council followed. In addition, the Council cancelled the Court summons on both occasions to allow for attempts to resolve the matter with the housing association.
37. If Ms D believes the Council had failed to apply to law correctly, she can dispute the summons in court. Only the Court can reach a view on whether she was or was not liable.

Support from the Council’s discretionary scheme

38. As Ms D was liable for Council tax, she had the right to apply to the Council’s Discretionary Council Tax relief scheme. This was on the basis the council tax costs were causing her hardship, both due to the removal of the single person discount and because she was liable to pay council tax for two properties.
39. The Council did not inform Ms D about its discretionary scheme until January 2025. While I understand some information about the scheme was shared when she first moved into her housing association property, I would expect this to have been shared in Summer 2024 when she raised concerns with the Council about its Court summons. I found its failure to do so to be fault.
40. I understand Ms D has since applied to the Council’s scheme and it has found she was not entitled to any support. I am therefore satisfied the Council’s fault caused a limited injustice to Ms D and an apology is therefore appropriate.
41. I cannot consider the Council’s decision to refuse Ms D’s support under its discretionary scheme as this happened in Spring 2025 and was not part of her complaint to the Council. If she disagrees with the Council’s decision, she can ask it to review its decision or bring a new complaint.

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Action

42. To remedy the injustice the Council caused to Ms D, the Council should, within one month of the final decision:
1. apologise in writing to Ms D to acknowledge the limited injustice its failure to share information about its Discretionary Council Tax Relief scheme caused her;

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.

43. Within three months of the final decision the Council should also:
1.  
2. remind staff in its Council tax and enforcement teams to share information about the Council’s Discretionary Council Tax Relief scheme with people liable for council tax who may be experiencing hardship.
44. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

45. I have completed my investigation with a finding of no fault on the substantial matters complained about. However, there was some fault as the Council failed to share information about its Council Tax Discretionary Relief Scheme sooner. This caused Ms D a limited injustice for which the Council will apologise.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman