Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about historic council tax arrears because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, says the Council is pursuing him for council tax arrears from 2014 even though it knows he was not living at that property for some of the time. Mr X wants the Council to quash the debt and the court records, and pay compensation.

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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. (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 Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and an update from the Council. I also considered our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. The Council sent Mr X a summons in 2015 for council tax arrears and the court issued a liability order in May 2015. In June 2015 the Council found out there was a new tenant in the property. Mr X had not told the council tax service he was leaving and he did not provide a new address. The Council closed the account and sent a closing bill to that address. The law says councils must send council tax letters to the last known address.
5. The Council recently reviewed cases with historic debts and, as part of that review, traced Mr X. It sent a letter asking for payment and following his complaint placed the account on hold for about two months to give him time to make a payment plan. It invited Mr X to provide evidence of the date he moved out as he disputed the end date of his liability. The Council says Mr X has not provided evidence of when he left the property and did not make a payment plan. The debt is now with bailiffs.
6. Mr X says he knew nothing about the arrears until 2025 even though he has remained in the same council area. He says he was not living at the address for some of the time and he did not get any of the letters.
7. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. There is no time limit on the recovery of the arrears because the court issued a liability order. Further, if the Council had located Mr X before 2025, he would still have been required to pay the arrears. That said, the Council says that Mr X’s contact with the Council after 2015 was not sufficient to link him to his previous address.
8. The arrears are historic and, in such cases, we expect councils to invite a payment plan rather than immediately instructing bailiffs. The Council did this and the debt is only with bailiffs because Mr X did not make a payment plan. The Council invited Mr X to provide evidence of the date he moved but he has not done this so the Council cannot adjust the period of liability or the arrears.
9. Mr X says he did not receive any of the documents about the arrears but, as the Council explained, it had to send the letters to his last time known address and Mr X had not provided a new address. If Mr X had given the council tax team a new address it could have kept in touch and it might have been easier for Mr X to provide evidence about the date he moved.
10. I appreciate being chased for a historic debt may be stressful but I have not seen anything to suggest we need to start an investigation.

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Final decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman