Summary: We have upheld this complaint because the Council did not act on the information Mr X provided and failed to respond to the evidence he submitted. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint by providing a remedy for the injustice this caused.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that the Council wrongly pursued council tax enforcement against him. He says the Council never served a summons or gave him any chance to challenge the alleged debt before it obtained a Liability Order. Despite his dispute, the Council sent the case to Enforcement Agent, which then clamped his car outside his home for more than eight days. The enforcement was later suspended, confirming the original instruction was incorrect.

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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 provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. If we investigated, we would likely find fault causing injustice because the Council failed to act promptly on the evidence provided by Mr X on 15 January 2025 and continued enforcement unnecessarily.
6. The Council had more than two months to prevent escalation but did not do so, leading to avoidable enforcement, loss of vehicle use, and distress.

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Agreed action

7. To its credit the Council has agreed to resolve this complaint early.
8. The Council has agreed to pay Mr X £250 for the avoidable distress and inconvenience caused by the delay and not having use of his vehicle for just over a week.
9. The Council should complete this within one month of issuing the decision statement.
10. The Council should provide us with evidence that the above recommendations have been completed.

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Final decision

11. We have upheld this complaint because the Council did not act on the information Mr X provided and failed to respond to his evidence. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by offering a remedy for the injustice this caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman