North Somerset Council (25 014 881)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 06 Feb 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a council tax discount and the Council’s recovery action. This is because the complaint is late and Mr X could have appealed to a Tribunal.
The complaint
- Mr X says the Council has not applied a discount due to his property being empty while undergoing structural work. The Council has now passed the account to its enforcement agent to recover the arrears.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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).
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
- The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X contacted the Council in April 2024 regarding his property being empty due to structural works. But he said the Council did not reply. The Council sent a summons In Jun 2024 and obtained a liability order.
- The Council said it asked Mr X for evidence but he did not send all the information it needed.
- Mr X’s complaint is late because Mr X was awrae of the issue more than 12 months before he complained to the Ombudsman. There are no good reasons for his complaint being late.
- The Council asked Mr X for information and evidence in August and November 2024, but it says he did not supply it and so it could not award a discount. It was reasonable to expect Mr X to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal regarding the discount he was seeking.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late and it was reasonable to except him to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal regarding the council tax discount.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman