Summary: Miss X complains the Council have sent her backdated council tax bills for a period the Council had miscalculated as not being owed. Miss X says the matter has caused her distress and financial hardship. We have found fault in the Councils actions for incorrectly closing Miss X’s account and for delayed complaints handling. The Council has agreed to write to Miss X to apologise, pay her a symbolic payment and agree an affordable repayment agreement and complete a service improvement.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council have sent her backdated council tax bills for a period the Council had miscalculated as not being owed.
2. Miss X says the matter has caused her distress and financial hardship.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Miss X and the Council were invited to comment on my draft decision. I have considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant Law and Guidance

7. Council tax is a combination of a tax on the value of a property and a tax on individuals. The owner or occupier pays it.
8. Councils issue demand notices annually. Residents are responsible for paying their council tax bills in monthly instalments. Council’s must send the person liable for payment of council tax a reminder and a notice before taking recovery action.
9. The council tax bill for the year is due on 1 April. A council will usually collect this through monthly instalments. If a person who has to pay council tax misses any instalment, the council will send them a reminder. If they still do not pay, or miss another payment, then they must pay all they owe (that is the full amount for the rest of the year).

Complaints procedure

10. The Council’s complaints procedure says it will respond within 20 working days to complaints.

What happened

11. Miss X was paying council tax monthly up until receiving a credit invoice from the Council in May 2023. The Council said Miss X was £523.37 in credit and it would repay the amount to her.
12. The Council issued Miss X with a bill for 2023/2024 which said she owed £0.
13. Miss X contacted the Council in October 2024 to say she had not received a bill for 2024/2025.
14. The Council emailed Miss X in early January 2025 and said it had closed her account in error. It explained the account would be re-opened and billed. Miss X explained to the Council that she was unhappy with this.
15. The Council issued bills for 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 to Miss X totalling £3,386.88 in early January 2025.
16. Miss X contacted the Council the following day and said she should not be charged for the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 bills as the Council had told her there was a £0 balance. Miss X also said she was unhappy the Council had taken three months to respond to her query.
17. The Council emailed Miss X the same day and apologised for its previous response which had not explained why the account had been closed. The Council explained it believed a new occupant had moved into Miss X’s property and had therefore sent further bills to that person. The Council said it had set up an extraordinary special arrangement to allow Miss X to repay the outstanding amount over a longer period.
18. Miss X responded to the Council and said she could not afford the amount it had requested and said she felt she should not be liable for the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 bills.
19. Miss X chased a response from the Council in early February 2025 and said her account was showing she had missed payments.
20. Miss X received an email from the Council in mid-February 2025 to say she had missed payments towards her council tax account.
21. The Council responded the following day to apologise for not responding sooner and confirmed a hold had been put on the account. Miss X chased a response from the Council throughout February and received a reply in late February 2025 again apologising for not responding to her.
22. The Council spoke to Miss X in late February 2025 and set up a plan to pay the 2024/2025 arrears on her account. Miss X said she was unhappy she could no longer see the £0 balance bills on her online account. The Council told Miss X it could not write off the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 arrears.
23. Miss X raised a complaint with the Council in late March 2025. Miss X said she was unhappy the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 bills had been deleted from her online account and replaced with bills demanding funds at short notice. Miss X said the Council had ignored her emails when she raised a query and she would like to appeal the charges for the period the Council had told her the balance was at £0.
24. Miss X chased a response to her complaint in late April 2025, and the Council advised it would respond by 12 May 2025.
25. The Council issued a complaint response on 15 May 2025 which said Miss X was always liable for the charges. It explained it was investigating why the £0 bills had been deleted and agreed that the delays in responding were unacceptable.
26. Miss X raised a stage two complaint in early June 2025. The Council responded in early July 2025 and said it closed her account in error. It said it rectified this when it became aware and issued corrected bills. The Council said it had rectified the issue with Miss X’s online account but that bills remain payable as Miss X is liable for them as a resident in the property. The response said the outstanding amount for 2022/2023 was £62.35, 2023/2024 was £149.05 and 2024/2025 was £1,425.51.

Analysis

27. Miss X contacted the Council in October 2024 to say she had not received a council tax bill for 2024/2025. I have not been able to see that the Council responded to this until January 2025. This is fault and caused Miss X frustration and inconvenience.
28. When the Council responded it said it closed Miss X’s account in error and said it would reopen and bill her account. The Council did not explain why the error had occurred or offer Miss X any reassurance about the bills which would be issued. This is fault and has caused Miss X distress and frustration.
29. The Council then delayed in responding to Miss X’s queries about the bills which had been generated. This is fault and caused Miss X distress and frustration.
30. The Council did not respond to Miss X’s complaint within the timescales its policy notes and Miss X had to chase for a response. This is fault and caused Miss x distress and frustration. The Council then advised it would respond by a date in May 2025 and did not do so. This is further fault and would have caused Miss X further distress and inconvenience.
31. The Council also provided incorrect figures in its stage two response in relation to the amount outstanding. This is fault and would have caused Miss X frustration and confusion.
32. I understand Miss X feels she should not have to pay for the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 bills the Council has raised and while I understand why she feels this way, she is liable for the charges at the property during those times.

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Action

33. Within four weeks of a final decision, the Council should:

• Write to Miss X to apologise for the distress, frustration and inconvenience caused by the faults identified. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
• Pay Miss X £500 to recognise the significant distress, frustration and inconvenience caused by the faults identified. This can be used towards the outstanding council tax balance if Miss X agrees.
• Pay Miss X £100 to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by the delay in dealing with her complaint. This can be used towards the outstanding council tax balance if Miss X agrees.
• Contact Miss X to agree an affordable repayment agreement for any outstanding Council Tax arrears.
• Advise the Ombudsman of what steps the Council can implement to ensure errors are not made when updating council tax accounts.

34. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

35. I find fault causing injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman