Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax arrears and an allegation of lost payments. This is because parts of the complaint are late, the debt has been confirmed in court, and because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Ms X, says she does not owe council tax of £3526 as alleged by the Council. She says the Council lost some of her payments and the records are inaccurate. Ms X wants the Council to remove the arrears because they are based on a Council error.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
3. 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)
4. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and email exchanges. I also considered our Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

6. Ms X has council tax arrears of £3526 which have accumulated since 2018. The Council has obtained liability orders; a liability order is a court order saying the person must pay the council tax and costs. The arrears are now with two bailiff firms for collection. The Council says Ms X has been querying the arrears since 2021. The Council also says it made payment plans which Ms X did not maintain.
7. Ms X complained to the Council and said it had not credited all her payments to her council tax account. She referred to some letters which said she was in credit and queried how a credit could turn into arrears.
8. In response, the Council explained that, over the years, some bills changed due to changes in Ms X’s benefit entitlement and discounts. It checked all the receipts Ms X sent and said that some were duplicates and some had no references so could not be checked. The Council sent council tax statements to Ms X and explained why the arrears are correct.
9. The Council booked a meeting so an officer could explain the council tax situation and go through any evidence Ms X wanted to bring. Ms X did not attend the meeting. The Council also invited Ms X to provide any evidence she may have to suggest any council tax payments went to her rent account.
10. I will not start an investigation for the following reasons. Ms X has had arrears since 2018 and will have been aware of them for much longer than the last 12 months. Ms X could have complained to us at any time from 2018 and I have not seen any good reason to investigate a complaint that started so long ago.
11. The court issued liability orders which mean the magistrates agreed Ms X owes the council tax and costs. The law says we cannot investigate any issue that has been considered in court.
12. I also will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council responded properly by checking Ms X’s account and the evidence she submitted, sending statements and by providing explanations. It offered a meeting so it could explore the account in person and gave Ms X the chance to provide more information. There is nothing more I would have expected the Council to do and nothing else we would ask it to do were we to start an investigation. It is not our role to check Ms X’s accounts or to cross-reference them with receipts.

Back to top

Final decision

13. We will not investigate this complaint because part of the complaint is late, the matters have been considered in court and because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman