Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about council tax charges. This is because part of the complaint is late, and for more recent matters there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to appropriately explain her council tax bills and provided conflicting information. Ms X stated that she faced financial hardship because she was unaware of credits on her council tax account. She also suffered emotional distress at threats of court action. She would like an apology, compensation and a full refund of overpayments.

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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)
3. 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 or continue 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))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Ms X made over payments to her council tax account in 2021, in addition to a standing order for her council tax payments which remained static from 2021 to 2025. The overpayments were applied to Ms X’s council tax bills from 2021 up to 2025. In 2025, the overpayments from 2021 did not cover the council tax charges and the Council contacted Ms X about arrears on her council tax account.
7. In its complaint response, the Council stated that it was satisfied Ms X was aware of the overpayments because she had emailed the Council about the matter in 2021.
8. The Ombudsman will not usually exercise discretion to investigate matters that took place more than 12 months prior to the complainant becoming aware of them. In this case, Ms X complained about the matter in February 2025. I have decided not to exercise discretion to look at matters before February 2024 because it is reasonable to expect Ms X to have complained to us about the matter sooner.
9. Ms X’s 2024/25 council tax bill stated the amount of credit on the account from the previous year, and the amount payable. It also included a monthly breakdown of instalments and payment options. Ms X’s standing order payment was not enough to cover her council tax bill. Therefore, the 2021 overpayments were used to cover the shortfall.
10. In its complaint response, the Council set out the payments received to Ms X’s council tax account dating back to 2016. It included an explanation of how the 2021 overpayments had been applied to her account and showed how these were detailed in Ms X’s council tax bills from 2022, 2023 and 2024.
11. Ms X questioned why the Council had issued conflicting information regarding the outstanding balance on her account. In its complaint response, the Council clarified that the amount outstanding had increased from February to April 2025 because Ms X had not adjusted her standing order amount to cover the council tax charges.
12. In its complaint response, the Council informed Ms X that it was the responsibility of the taxpayer to manage their payments and claim back any overpayments.
13. The Council informed Ms X of the status of her council tax account annually and provided a full explanation of overpayments when requested. The Council dealt with Ms X’s overpayments in line with its policy. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because part of the complaint is late, and there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman