Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council communicated with Miss X about her council tax. This is because we could not add to any previous investigation by the Council.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council did not respond to her complaints about demands for Council Tax payments. She says the documents had no explanation and she found them difficult to understand. She says the situation is impacting her mental health and causing her financial hardship. Miss X wants the Council to apologise and pay her 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 or continue an investigation if we decide:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(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 Miss X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Miss X complained to the Council after she said it sent confusing bills and demands for payments without explanation.
6. The Council told Miss X her Direct Debit (DD) payment had failed so it sent her a reminder letter demanding immediate payment.
7. Miss X made two separate manual payments to the Council. It received the first payment before the due date; however, it received the second payment after it. Therefore, the Council made a DD request which included the late payment and Miss X’s usual monthly amount.
8. The reminder letter did not make it clear to Miss X, the Council would collect payment via her next DD if not paid by the due date.
9. Miss X called the Council to find out why this had happened. The officer who handled her call did not explain what happened clearly or provide the assistance Miss X needed.
10. The Council accepted this fell below the levels of service expected and issued an apology to Miss X. The Council addressed the matter with the officer and said it will use the incident in training to improve its future service. The Council also agreed to change Miss X’s Council Tax payment method to manual to make them manageable.
11. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council issued an apology and adjusted Miss X’s payment method. I am satisfied this remedied any injustice caused to Miss X. It is unlikely an investigation by the Ombudsman would add to the Council’s response and therefore, further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we could not add to any previous investigation by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman