Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax arrears and when letters are posted. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault causing injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Ms X, complains the Council delayed sending letters so she could not meet the deadline. She says the Council will not accept fault even though she has sent proof. Ms X wants the Council to accept a payment plan of £10 a month for the arrears.

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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, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

4. Ms X has council tax arrears from 2018 to 2021. She owes about £2500 plus fees. She had a payment plan but the last payment she made was £10 in August. The Council called to set up a new plan but there was no reply. The Council wrote to Ms X on 1 November asking her to get in touch and provide some information. The Council says the letter was posted on 5 November by its post provider.
5. Ms X says that by the time she received the letter on 15 November, the 14 day deadline to reply had expired. Ms X contacted the Council on 20 November and provided some of the information the Council had asked for.
6. The Council had referred the arrears to bailiffs on 20 November, before Ms X got in touch. The Council says it might have delayed the referral if Ms X had made contact before 20 November. The Council says it referred the case to bailiffs because Ms X had not maintained the payment plan.
7. Ms X says the Council deliberately delayed sending the letter. She says she sent the Council photographs of the frank date on the envelope. Ms X also says the Council delayed posting other letters. The Council says it has not received any evidence from Ms X but it made checks with the party that posts the letters. The Council says the letter was part of a 750 batch posted on 5 November and nobody else has reported any problems.
8. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council causing injustice. I have not seen any evidence the letter was not posted on 5 November and I know from personal experience that bulk posted letters can take ten days to arrive.
9. Ms X says the Council delayed posting the letter. But, even if this was what happened, it has not caused an injustice requiring an investigation. This is because Ms X could have contacted the Council on 15 November, the day she received the letter, and provided all the information the Council had asked for. If she had done this then the impact of any postal delay would have been minimal and the Council might not have involved bailiffs at that stage.
10. Ms X wants the Council to accept £10 a month. However, as the case is with the bailiffs, she will need to make a payment plan with them.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council causing injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman