Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s pursuit of Council Tax arrears. It is reasonable to expect Miss X to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal any liability disagreement. It is unlikely we will achieve a significantly different remedy than the Council has provided for the recovery action it accepts it should not have taken.

The complaint

1. Miss X says the Council acted inappropriately in pursuing her for Council Tax arrears and she wants all outstanding amounts written off.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
3. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
4. 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:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation; 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

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

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My assessment

7. Miss X sold and moved out of Property Z in August 2022. The Council says she had outstanding Council Tax for 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23. She did not tell the Council Tax department she had left the property.
8. In January 2023 the Council says its benefits team became aware Miss X had moved and told the Council Tax team. It emailed Miss X. She replied within a month, confirmed she had left the address but did not provide a new address. The Council sent a bill with the outstanding amounts to the same email address in early March 2023. It did not get a reply. It issued a summons and obtained Court liability orders in July 2023. It passed the case to bailiffs in August 2023. They found Miss X’s new address and contacted her in June 2024. They carried out two visits and Miss X then contacted the Council.
9. In July 2024 she complained about the Council’s and bailiff’s actions.
10. The Council replied at stage one in August 2024 and stage two in October 2024. It accepted it should not have applied for a summons and obtain a liability order in 2023 as it had not got a current address for Miss X. It agreed to remove all costs associated with those orders and the bailiff’s fees from the accounts. It wrote to the Court asking for the summons and liability orders to be withdrawn. It apologised. It set up a new payment plan for the remaining outstanding Council Tax.
11. Miss X complained to us in May 2025. She says the Council and bailiff acted inappropriately. She says this caused her significant stress and affected her health. She said she had to move house because of the Council’s actions. She wants the outstanding amounts written off.

Analysis

12. If Miss X does not believe she is liable for any of the remaining outstanding Council Tax she has a right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal Service. It is reasonable to expect Miss X to use this right of appeal as the process is set up to be user friendly and it is the appeal process Parliament set up for this type of claim.
13. Given Miss X moved without notifying the Council Tax team, did not respond to the March 2023 email and had outstanding amounts for three years, our investigation is unlikely to achieve more than the Council has already offered.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect her to appeal any Council Tax liability dispute to the Valuation Tribunal. And we are unlikely to achieve a significantly different remedy than the Council has already provided for the summons and liability order using her previous address.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman