Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about liability for

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about how the Council established liability for council tax. He also complains about how it handled his council tax account. He wants summons and liability costs withdrawn and council tax billing to start from the date liability was established.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
4. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
5. 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

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

8. Mr X said he should not have to pay council tax for the period before liability was established.
9. The Valuation Tribunal is an independent expert body. The Council must do what the Tribunal tells it to. Mr X has appealed to the Valuation Tribunal.
10. Mr X says that he moved into a new home in April 2024. He says he set up an online council tax account with the Council and it misspelled his name. He says this he could not access the account for one year.
11. Mr X complained the Council failed to establish his council tax account when he moved into his property in April 2024. The Council said it had no record of him contacting it. Mr X’s landlord contacted the Council in October 2024 and it issued the council tax bill and told him to contact the Valuation Office about incorrect address details.
12. Mr X complained Council errors meant it did not apply Single Person Discount to his account. The Council said Mr X raised this in March 2025 and it awarded him the discount from his move-in date. It withdrew recovery action and issued a new bill.
13. Mr X complained the Council set up a ten-month instalment plan for both the previous and current council tax years. He said he should not have to pay before April 2025 when the Council said it would backdate the Single Person Discount. Council Tax liability is a matter for the Valuation Tribunal so I cannot consider this. The Council offered to set up a Special Payment Arrangement.
14. Mr X complained the Council continued to take recovery action while it was considering his complaint. The Council explained this was not the case, as it did not receive the complaint until after the summons was issued. It withdrew all recovery action prior to the liability order.
15. Mr X has complained the Council was not clear about how it justified the £75 summons costs. Recovery of council tax is by action in the magistrates’ court. The law says we cannot investigate matters from the service of the summons to the end of the hearing including the award of or the level of court costs.
16. Mr X has complained about how the Council handled his complaint. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.
17. I will not investigate this complaint. Mr X has appealed to the Valuation Tribunal about liability for council tax. Based on the information I have seen there is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council handled Mr X’s council tax account to justify an investigation by the Ombudsman. Mr X is seeking withdrawal of the summons and liability costs and billing to start from the date he says liability was established. These outcomes cannot be achieved by the Ombudsman.

Back to top

Final decision

18. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has appealed to the Valuation Tribunal. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his council tax account because there is not enough evidence of fault.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman