Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Ms X’s council tax refund. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating and we cannot achieve the outcome Ms X wants.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to refund her council tax overpayment and wrongly submitted her to a fraud investigation. This has caused her stress, financial loss and missed interest. She wanted the Council to refund her overpayment with interest and pay her compensation for discrimination and distress.

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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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or

(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 Ms X and the Council’s complaint responses.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Ms X said she mistakenly overpaid her council tax in early 2025. She requested a refund of her overpayment from the Council.
6. In its complaint response, the Council said it had opened an investigation into Ms X’s large overpayments of council tax in 2025, and in previous years. The Council said that it could not refund Ms X’s overpayment until the investigation had completed.
7. The Council advised Ms X in September 2025 that it had closed her complaint with them until the investigation had concluded. The Council apologised for the inconvenience to Ms X and advised her that she could resume her complaint once the investigation was complete.
8. We will not investigate this complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. The Council told Ms X they cannot consider her complaint or issue a refund until the investigation has completed. The Council advised Ms X to resume her complaint after the investigation.
9. Additionally, Ms X has sought a substantial amount of compensation. This is not something we can achieve for Ms X. It is not our role to assess economic losses or award compensation, this is a matter for the courts.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating and we cannot achieve the outcome Ms X wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman