Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax recovery in 2022. This is because the complaint is late. Even if we were to exercise our discretion to investigate the late complaint, we would consider the Council has already taken suitable action.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council took enforcement action for council tax arrears for 2021 despite payments that were made. He also says it failed to take account of his disability, did not consider reasonable adjustments or the financial hardship it caused. He seeks a refund, an apology and a significant financial remedy.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation
• if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended); or

• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)).

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X complained to the Council in 2022 regarding its council tax recovery action in 2021 and 2022. The Council did not uphold Mr X’s complaint.
6. Mr X complained further about the same issues in 2025. The Council did not uphold the majority of Mr X’s complaint. However, it accepted that it did not notify its enforcement agent about a credit paid into his council tax account which cleared the arrears. The agent went on to charge fees of £235. The Council apologised for its mistake, and said it should have identified this earlier. It refunded £235 fees and paid Mr X a further £125 as an apology and for the delay repaying.
7. Mr X’s complaint is late and there are no good reasons for this. We will not investigate it.
8. Even if we were to exercise our discretion to consider the late complaint we would not investigate it. This is because where the Council accepted in 2025 it was at fault, it has taken satisfactory action to remedy the injustice.
9. Mr X seeks a significant financial remedy. However, we could not achieve the outcome Mr X wants.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons for this. If we exercised our discretion to consider investigating the late complaint, we would not start an investigation because the Council has taken satisfactory action.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman