Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to set up a direct debit for Ms X’s council tax payments. This is because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Ms X.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council did not set up a direct debit for council tax payments in March 2025 when requested. She says it chased her for payment, causing distress. She is also unhappy it closed her August 2025 complaint without investigation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. If we were to investigate it is likely we would find fault causing Ms X injustice. This is because Ms X made clear in her complaint of August 2025 that she expected the Council to have set up a direct debit for her in March to start in May. In August, the Council accepted it had overlooked setting up a payment arrangement in March, apologised and set this up again to start from October. However, it did not address Ms X’s request for a direct debit. Because of this, Ms X missed another payment in October and was again chased for non payment.
6. We therefore asked to the Council to consider remedying the injustice caused to Ms X by taking the following actions within one month of this decision:
• Provide Ms X with an apology in line with our guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice.
• Pay Ms X £100 for distress.
• Request bank details from Ms X and on receipt, set up a direct debit arrangement for Ms X to pay her council tax.

Agreed action

7. To its credit the Council agreed to resolve the complaint and will complete the actions at paragraph 6 within one month.

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Final decision

8. We have upheld this complaint because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Ms X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman