Summary: We did not find fault with the Council for passing the debt to an enforcement agent. We also did not find fault with the enforcement agent acting on the Council’s behalf during the debt collection visit. We did find fault with the Council providing misleading information to Mr X in March 2025, but this did not cause a significant personal injustice to Mr X.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council referred a Council Tax debt to an enforcement agent despite him having a payment arrangement with the Council for the debt.
2. Mr X also complained about the debt collection practices of an enforcement agent acting for the Council. This included entering his property and recording him without consent. Mr X says the enforcement agent refused to leave until he paid the debt owed in full.
3. Mr X says the Council’s action have caused him significant distress and financial hardship.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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)
5. 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

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

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What I found

Rules and regulations

8. There are laws and regulations that control how councils collect council tax payments and how they can make people pay council tax they owe. (Council Tax [Administration and Enforcement] Regulations 1992)
9. Laws and regulations also control how enforcement agents can collect money owed to the council. (The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007)
10. 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 the money. Once a council has a liability order it can take action to recover the money and any court costs owed.
11. Regulations set out how much an enforcement agent can charge when recovering debt and the three stages they must follow.

• The Compliance Stage – an enforcement agent must issue a notice of enforcement. The fee for this stage is £75.
• The Enforcement Stage – this stage starts once an enforcement agent has made a first visit. This must be at least seven days after sending the notice of enforcement. At this visit the agent can take control of goods. The fee for this stage is £235. If the outstanding debts are more than £1,500, the agent can charge a further 7.5% of the amount outstanding over £1,500.
• The Sale or Disposal Stage – this stage starts once an enforcement agent has taken control of the goods. They must allow seven ays between removing the goods and selling them. In this time an agent must value the goods and send a copy of the valuation to the debtor. The fee for this stage is £110.
  (Taking Control of Goods [Fees] Regulations 2014

12. Councils must make sure enforcement agents provide clear and accurate information about how much someone must pay. This must include a breakdown of costs, explaining how much the enforcement agent has charged for what they have done.
13. If a council has a liability order from the magistrates’ court it can ask an enforcement agent) to visit a person’s property and take goods worth up to the amount of council tax debt and costs.
14. The law sets out a clear procedure for how enforcement agents can do this. This is called “taking control of goods”. (Schedule 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007)
15. An enforcement agent may go into relevant premises to search for and take control of goods. Relevant premises include the home of the person who owes money. The enforcement agent may only enter by a door, or any normal way into the premises. The enforcement agent cannot force their way in if the debt is for council tax, business rates or a parking or moving traffic offence.

What happened

Relevant background information

16. Mr X owed Council Tax for different properties. The Council got a liability order for the debt owed for the property which is the subject of this complaint, Property A.
17. At the start of 2024, Mr X agreed a payment arrangement to repay the balance owed for Property A. Mr X upheld this payment arrangement until October 2024 and November 2024 when he paid slightly below the agreed payment.
18. In November 2024, the Council passed this debt to an enforcement agent because of Mr X’s underpayments. Mr X contacted the Council about this. The Council explained it passed the debt to enforcement agents because of the underpayment but agreed to withdraw the balance and cancel the enforcement fees.

Matters relevant to this complaint

19. Following withdrawal of the debt from the enforcement agent, Mr X agreed a new payment arrangement with the Council for the debt for Property A. The Council wrote to Mr X to confirm the payment arrangement and told Mr X a failure to pay would result in it passing the debt back to an enforcement agent.
20. Mr X paid this payment arrangement in December 2024 and January 2025.
21. In March 2025, the Council passed the debt for Property A to an enforcement agent because of the stop in payments. The enforcement agent wrote to Mr X to advise about the debt. The enforcement agent’s letter detailed the total balance owed, the property details for Property A, reference numbers, information about enforcement fees and confirmed it had already applied the compliance stage fee.
22. At the end of March 2025, Mr X contacted the Council about the enforcement agent. Mr X provided the Council with the reference number, Reference A, from the letter but did not provide the address for Property A.
23. The Council responded to advise it recalled the debt from Property B and removed all the fees in February 2025. The Council said the enforcement agent did not hold an instruction for a debt for Property B and that it had a payment arrangement agreed with Mr X. The Council asked Mr X if the letter from the enforcement agent had a different reference number to one it quoted, Reference B. Mr X did not respond to the Council.
24. In April 2025, the enforcement agent completed a debt collection visit. During the visit the enforcement agent:
• Told Mr X who he was, provided identification and explained the purpose of his visit was to collect unpaid Council Tax.
• Confirmed the debt was for Property A and said there was no record of an active payment arrangement.
• Showed Mr X the liability order.
• Told Mr X if he could not arrange payment he could remove goods.
• Allowed Mr X’s partner time to get money to settle the balance.
• Accepted full payment from Mr X’s partner in cash, counted the payment, confirmed he had settled the debt on the system and provided a receipt for payment.
25. Mr X made a complaint to the Council. Mr X said:
• He had a payment arrangement with the Council to pay the debt for Property A and written confirmation an enforcement agent would not chase the debt.
• The enforcement agent threatened and coerced him into paying the debt owed without any breakdown of what he owed or offer of a payment arrangement.
• The enforcement agent filmed him without his consent, did not tell him who would have access to the footage or how long it would be stored for.
• He experienced significant emotional distress and lasting anxiety and wanted financial compensation.
• He wanted an investigation into the enforcement agent, a refund of the money paid and a breakdown of any fees or charges applied.
26. The Council provided a complaint response to Mr X in April 2025. The Council provided a breakdown of the events leading to the enforcement visit. The Council said when Mr X contacted in March 2025 it confirmed Mr X did not owe a balance for Property B, but it was now clear that Mr X’s contact was about Property A. The Council said it would investigate Mr X’s concerns about the enforcement agent.
27. Mr X requested consideration of his complaint at stage two of the Council’s process. Mr X said he had been paying the Council so it should not have taken enforcement action. Mr X asked for information about the debts owed for the different properties.
28. The Council completed its investigation into the enforcement agent. The enforcement agent confirmed it sent the relevant letters to Mr X and did not feel Mr X had been treated unfairly by the conduct of the enforcement agent during the visit.
29. The Council declined to provide a stage two complaint response and directed Mr X to the Ombudsman. The Council advised Mr X owed no further balance towards the debt for Property A and detailed the balances owed to other properties.

Analysis

30. The Council had already got a liability order and passed the debt to enforcement agents before the issues outlined in Mr X’s complaint.
31. Mr X stop in payments to the Council in February 2025 Property A prompted the Council to pass the debt back to the enforcement agents in March 2025, after two missed payments. The Council had already told Mr X this would happen in November 2024. I do not find fault with the Council passing the debt back to the enforcement agent.
32. The enforcement agent acted correctly by sending a letter to Mr X which contained all relevant information about the debt and the potential debt collection charges. I do not find fault with the information provided to Mr X or application of the compliance stage fees.
33. When Mr X contacted the Council in March 2025 to query the enforcement of the debt he provided the correct reference number for Property A. The Council responded to Mr X about a different property rather than Property A. This meant the Council provided misleading information to Mr X the debt should not be with the enforcement agents; this was fault.
34. While the Council was at fault for providing misleading information to Mr X, the Council asked Mr X to check whether the letter from the enforcement agent related to Property B. The Council provided in its letter suitable information for Mr X to verify the property the enforcement agent was chasing the debt for and respond to the Council. Mr X did not respond to the Council. This mitigates the fault from the Council providing misleading information meaning the Council did not cause a significant personal injustice to Mr X.
35. The enforcement agent was entitled to complete an enforcement visit in April 2025 because Mr X did not settle the balance. This meant the enforcement agent was entitled to apply the enforcement stage fee and I do not find fault with this.
36. The footage from the enforcement agents visit shows they acted within standards expected outlined within the relevant guidance. The enforcement agent did not act in a threatening manner, use force or apply undue pressure to obtain payment. The enforcement agent presented identification and evidence of the liability order. I do not find fault with the actions of the enforcement agent during the visit.

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Decision

37. I have completed my investigation as the fault by the Council did not lead to a significant injustice to Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman