Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council managed the complainant’s council tax. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council causing injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, says the Council did not update the council tax records with his new address. He says it sent council tax letters to his old address so he was unaware of the charge. The debt is now with bailiffs; Mr X says this would not have happened if the Council had updated his address. Mr X wants the Council to apologise, remove the debt 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, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained.

(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 copies of letters. I also considered our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. Mr X moved house in June 2023 and told the Council. The Council processed the change of address in October 2023. It issued a council tax bill for the new address and sent a closing bill for the old address. The Council did not receive payment for the old address so it issued a reminder and a summons. Mr X says he did not receive the letters and says the portal shows the Council only sent them to the old address. I have seen copies of the documents which show the Council sent them to the new address.
5. The Council sent Mr X a court summons in January 2024. Mr X contacted the Council and made a payment plan for the old address. His bank rejected the direct debit and the Council cancelled the plan. The court granted a liability order in February and Mr X made another payment plan in March. Mr X did not make any payments.
6. In November the Council sent an attachment of earnings order (AEO) to Mr X’s employer and to Mr X. Mr X says neither he nor his employer received it. In April 2025 the Council passed the debt to bailiffs.
7. Mr X says he did not receive any of the letters about his former home and says the portal shows the Council sent them to his old address. The Council told Mr X the portal does not provide access to all the records and does not show documents sent by post. The Council apologised for the delay in updating Mr X’s account but said it followed the correct recovery process. The Council said Mr X had opportunities to pay before the debt was passed to bailiffs.
8. There was an initial delay by the Council in processing Mr X’s change of address but there is nothing to suggest other fault and nothing to demonstrate fault causing injustice. I do not know why Mr X did not get the letters but I have seen copies which show the Council sent letters about the old address to his new address. Similarly, I cannot say why neither Mr X nor the employer got the AEO letter but, again, the evidence indicates it was sent.
9. Although Mr X has explained he did not get the letters, he made a payment plan in January. If Mr X had maintained the plan, or the plan he made in March, the Council would not have applied for an AEO or instructed bailiffs. While there was a delay by the Council in processing the initial change, this has not caused an injustice requiring an investigation because Mr X was aware of the bill from January and could have paid it before the Council took enforcement action.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault causing injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman