Summary: Miss X complained the Council wrongly took recovery action against her for unpaid council tax. Miss X said the Council also wrongly continued its action after she provided evidence her rent payments included council tax. Miss X also said she paid money to the enforcement agents and paid the Council under a payment arrangement for a debt she did not believe she owed. The Council was not at fault for its actions to recover council tax from Miss X. The Council was at fault for delayed responses to Miss X. This caused Miss X uncertainty. The Council has apologised for its delayed communications. This is a satisfactory remedy for the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council wrongly took recovery action against her for unpaid council tax. Miss X said the Council also wrongly continued its action after she provided evidence her rent payments included council tax. Miss X also complained she paid £200 in cash to the enforcement agents, and she entered a payment arrangement that she said was unaffordable. Miss X said she made payments under this arrangement even though she did not believe it was her debt.
2. Miss X said this caused her emotional and financial distress. Miss X would like the Council to apologise and compensate her for the distress and inconvenience caused.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended).
4. When considering complaints we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.
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).
6. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended).

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How I considered this complaint

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

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What I found

The Law

Council tax

9. 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).
10. Laws and regulations also control how enforcement agents can collect money owed to the council. (The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007).
11. The council tax bill for the year is due on 1 April. A council will usually collect this through monthly instalments. If a person who has to pay council tax misses any instalment, the council will send them a reminder. If they still do not pay, or miss another payment, then they must pay all they owe (that is the full amount for the rest of the year).
12. 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.
13. Most often councils take what is owed directly from the person’s benefits, from their wages (called getting an attachment of earnings order) or using enforcement agents. The council can decide how to recover what is owed but it can only use one method for one liability order at one time.
14. Section 6(2) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 sets out the hierarchy of liability for the council tax at a property. In general, people who live in a property are responsible for the council tax at the property. If no-one lives at the property, the owner is responsible.

What happened

15. Miss X moved into a privately rented property in or around late April 2023. The Council issued a summons to Miss X in early December 2023 for unpaid council tax in the 2023 to 2024 tax year. It obtained a liability order in January 2024 and instructed enforcement agents to pursue Miss X for the debt the next day.
16. Miss X said that the enforcement agents visited her property on 28 February 2024. Miss X said she paid the enforcement agents £200 in cash towards the debt due to the agents using forceful and threatening behaviour.
17. Over the coming months the enforcements agents continued to contact and visit Miss X. The agent’s records show Miss X made small payments toward the debt over this time.
18. The enforcement agent’s records show that in October 2024, Miss X’s payments stopped. Miss X contacted the enforcement agents, saying she was unable to afford the payments and was vulnerable because of her mental health.
19. The Council issued a summons to Miss X in November 2024 for unpaid council tax in the 2024 to 2025 tax year. It obtained a liability order in December 2024 and instructed the enforcement agents the next day. Miss X started making payments to the agents again soon after.
20. On 14 May 2025, Miss X sent the Council a copy of her tenancy agreement for the property. The agreement said the rent was £750 per month, which included internet connection and council tax. Miss X also told the Council she had not received council tax bills during the time she lived at the property.
21. The Council asked the enforcement agents to refund the payments Miss X had made and return the case so it could arrange a direct payment plan for Miss X. The Council said this was because of Miss X’s mental health and her saying she had not received the council tax bills. The Council closed her case and stopped all recovery actions, including the liability order, and said it would pursue the landlord for the council tax.
22. Miss X responded and repeated to the Council that her rent payments included council tax, so she believed she was not responsible for paying the debt.
23. Miss X complained to the Council in May 2025 about the way it handled the situation. Miss X said the aggressive and forceful action taken by the enforcement agents made her feel she had no choice but to make payments towards the outstanding council tax, which she believed she did not owe. The Council responded that it did not uphold the complaint, but it accepted it had delayed responding to Miss X’s emails.
24. Miss X escalated her complaint to stage two. The Council responded in July 2025 and apologised for not considering her specific situation and distress in its stage one response. The Council repeated that it accepted it delayed responding to Miss X’s emails for five months. The Council also accepted it sent Miss X a letter with her wrong contact details and the enforcement agents also wrongly sent her a letter after the Council had told her it had closed her case. Miss X remained unhappy and complained to the Ombudsman.
25. Around this time, the Council decided the landlord was responsible for paying the council tax based on the information provided by Miss X. The Council contacted the landlord, who denied responsibility for the council tax. The landlord provided the Council with a different tenancy agreement, which was for £600 rent a month and did not include council tax. The landlord also provided screenshots of £600 payments. They said were rent payments from Miss X between September 2023 and November 2023. In response to our enquiries, the Council told the Ombudsman it believed the landlord’s evidence supported their version of events and they began pursuing Miss X for the debt again in January 2026.
26. In January 2026, Miss X told the Ombudsman she was no longer paying the payment plan, and the Council had refunded her for the payments she made. Miss X said the Council had not refunded her for the £200 she paid to the enforcement agents, but she accepted she does not have a receipt of proof of payment for this.
27. The Council then contacted Miss X in late January 2026 to confirm that based on the landlord’s evidence, it considered her liable for the tax and it had reopened her account. Miss X responded the £600 payments she made were to a member of the landlord’s family for a separate matter and were not for rent. Miss X also said the Council had caused a data breach by sending a letter containing her current address to her previous address.

My findings

28. Under the hierarchy of liability for council tax, the person who lives at a property is usually responsible for paying tax. This means unless the Council had evidence that Miss X was not responsible for paying the tax whilst living at the property, it was entitled to act to recover the money from her.
29. The Council believed Miss X was liable for the unpaid council tax and so it got two liability orders from the court so it could recover the money. Miss X then provided information to the Council that appeared to show the landlord was responsible for paying council tax during Miss X’s tenancy. Based on this information, the Council then closed Miss X’s account, stopped recovery action against her and contacted the landlord to recover the money. The landlord then provided information to the Council that appeared to show Miss X was responsible for paying the Council tax. The Council re-opened Miss X’s account and began recovery action against her again.
30. The Council acted on the information available at the time and took appropriate action in line with laws and regulations over the collection of council tax. The Council was not at fault.
31. The Council accepted it took five months to respond to Miss X’s communication. This was fault. It caused Miss X uncertainty. The Council has already apologised to Miss X for the impact this had on her. I find this a suitable remedy to the injustice caused and so I do not suggest any further remedy.
32. Miss X said she paid £200 in cash to the enforcement agents on 28 February 2024, but she did not have a receipt or proof of payment. The Council contacted the enforcement agents, who confirmed they had no record of the payment or of a visit on that date. From the enforcement agents’ records, it appears it did visit Miss X’s property on that date, but it did not speak to anybody and it left a letter. The Council has not refunded her this money. On balance, the Council is not at fault for not refunding Miss X this money, as it has no evidence the payment was made.
33. The Council accepted it sent a letter to Miss X with her wrong contact details, and the enforcement agents wrongly sent her a letter after it had closed her account. This was fault. It caused Miss X frustration and uncertainty. The Council has already apologised for the injustice caused by these errors. I find this a suitable remedy to the injustice caused and so I do not suggest any further remedy.
34. The Information Commissioner is more suitably placed to investigate Miss X’s complaint about the alleged data breach. Miss X can complain to the Information Commissioner if she wishes to do so.

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Decision

35. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has already taken action to remedy the injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman