Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint that the Council did not refund a council tax payment she made in error. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault and it is unlikely investigation would achieve significantly more for Ms X as the Council has now refunded the payment.

The complaint

1. Ms X is complaining that after paying more than £1500 to the Council in error it did not respond to any of her communication to arrange a refund.
2. Ms X states this caused her prolonged financial harm and distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(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 the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Ms X paid the Council £1,741.03 in 2021 for an outstanding council tax bill issued by a different local authority. She contacted the Council to ask for a refund, but did not receive a response.
7. In 2025, Ms X complained to us that she still had not received a reply or a refund. The Council explained it did not receive any contact from Ms X as she used contact details that are not current.
8. The Council acknowledged money was held in an account, but without any details of where it came from, so it could not return it. Now the Council is aware of the complaint and the source of the payment, it has processed the refund.
9. It is unlikely we could achieve significantly more for Ms X. It is also unlikely we would find significant evidence of fault as Ms X was using the wrong contact details, and did not pursue the matter further for several years after making the payment.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault, and it is unlikely investigation would achieve significantly more for her now the Council has refunded her payment.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman