Summary: The complaint is the Council demanded an extra payment of council tax without explanation and proceeded to take court action in respect of that amount. This was despite the complainant having set up a direct debit for the payments. We uphold the complaint because of fault. But the Council has cancelled the enforcement action, waived costs and offered to apply to set aside a liability order. These are suitable remedies.

The complaint

1. Mrs X’s complaint is the Council demanded an extra payment of council tax without explanation and proceeded to take court action in respect of this amount. This was despite Mrs X having authorised it to take payments by direct debit. Mrs X also complains about other aspects of the Council’s administration of the account.
2. Mrs X says she was upset and worried by the Council’s actions and felt bullied and intimidated. She says she was caused inconvenience and wasted time.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Legal and administrative background

7. Council tax is a tax made on domestic properties. Councils issue one bill to each household. Residents of dwellings are usually liable for council tax for the time they live in a property. The council tax bill for the year is due on 1 April. A council will usually collect this through monthly instalments. If a person who has to pay council tax misses any instalment, the council will send them a reminder.
8. Councils who want to recover unpaid council tax have to ask the magistrate’s court for a liability order against people it thinks owe it money. Once a council has a liability order it can take action to recover the money and any court costs owed.

What happened

9. The information below is a summary of relevant events, and does not include every everything that happened during this period.
10. Mrs X and her husband Mr X moved home within the Borough in October 2023.
11. In August 2024 the Council sent a council tax bill to Mrs X for her new home for the balance of payments for the 2023-24 council tax year. Mrs X received this bill and paid it shortly after.
12. In November 2024 the Council says it became aware Mrs X had moved into her new home a few weeks earlier than it had previously understood. This meant there was an extra council tax liability. The Council updated the account and sent them a new bill. It did not provide any covering information explaining why it had issued the new bill.
13. In early 2025 the Council sent Mrs X a reminder for the payment of the council tax owing. Mrs X set up a new direct debt mandate. Mr X also replied to an email asking for a statement of what they owed. He did not receive a response.
14. Later in January the Council emailed Mrs X asking for payment. Shortly after it issued a summons. Mr X emailed both the Council and magistrates’ court about the bill. He asked for a court hearing and asked to complain to the Council.
15. In February, the court granted the Council a liability order.
16. During March Mr X corresponded with the Council, including asking again to complain.
17. The Council’s complaint responses:
• apologised that it issued a bill and did not collect the amount owing by direct debit;
• acknowledged Mrs X’s further contact in January, requesting a direct debit. It offered further apologies;
• advised it had cancelled its recovery action and removed costs. It had issued a new bill which it would collect by direct debit.
18. Mr X then complained to the Ombudsman.

Analysis

19. The Council has accepted fault in this case. It has taken action to provide a resolution for the injustice this led to. It has cancelled recovery action and costs and apologised.
20. The above actions are satisfactory to resolve the injustice to Mrs X. As a publicly funded body we must be careful how we use our resources. We conduct proportionate investigations; completing them when we consider we have enough evidence to make a sound decision. This means we do not try to answer every single question a complainant may have about what the organisation did. I recognise Mrs X’s feeling of unremedied injustice. But any outstanding injustice is not enough to warrant further investigation.

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Decision

21. I find fault causing injustice. But the Council has already provided suitable remedies. So it is not a proportionate use of public resources to investigate further.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman