Trafford Council (25 014 451)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 02 Feb 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a council tax student disregard. This is because there not enough evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
- Miss X complains the Council failed to take account of her daughter’s student status for council tax purposes. The Council asked Miss X for her daughter’s student certificate, but she believed the college had already advised the Council. This led to a very high council tax bill.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)).
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Ms X complained to the Council regarding the matters in paragraph 1.
- The Council replied that it had not received information about student status from the college and it was not aware Ms X’s daughter was a student. It said universities did not send this information and had not done so since 2023. It was the student’s responsibility to provide the evidence.
- The Council confirmed it had now received the information it needed from Miss X and it had reinstated the disregard which meant she did not have to pay council tax at the higher rate. Her instalments returned to the original amounts.
- There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify an investigation. It is the council tax payer’s responsibility to provide information and evidence to support claims for council tax discounts and disregards.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman