Summary: We will not exercise discretion investigate this complaint about council tax liability. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have complained to us sooner.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council charging her for council tax for her temporary homelessness accommodation and also the council tax of the flat below because the liability was not divided for the two flats at the time. She says the Council failed to follow the Ombudsman’s previous investigation into her complaint reference 21005670 which addressed her utility bills and council tax charges. She says the Council took court action against her and that it should cancel the liability order and charges together with the council tax she did not owe and compensate her for the distress caused by its errors.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council’s response.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Miss X says she was charged for utility bill costs and council tax for a temporary accommodation property which consists of two separate flats and that she only had access to one of these. The flats were listed as a single liability for council tax purposes and she complained to us about the matter in 2021. We found fault at the time and in February 2022 required the Council to take action within one month to have the premises registered as separate council tax liabilities.
6. Miss X did not make any further complaints to us or the Council until her legal representatives made a formal complaint about failure to implement all the Ombudsman’s recommendations to the Council in March 2023. They did not submit a new compalint to us until February 2025 which is outside the normal 12-month period for receiving complaints.
7. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wish to complain about, not when they complained to the Council or it issued its final response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year, even if they were dissatisfied with the time the complaints procedure was taking.
8. It was reasonable for Miss X to submit a complaint within 12 months if she remained dissatisfied with the Council’s response to the recommendations following our earlier investigation. She had used our service previously and was legally represented in both complaints.

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Final decision

9. We will not exercise discretion investigate this complaint about council tax liability. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have complained to us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman