Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council tax banding because there is no worthwhile outcome to achieve.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that the Council misled him about the amount of Council tax he would have to pay whilst his property was being banded.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mr X says that he moved into his property in October 2024 and was told by the Council that it had not yet been banded for Council tax purposes but he should set aside between £50 and £100 per month to cover the potential bill when assessed.
6. Mr X then received a bill for £3806 in October 2025 which he says was unreasonable. This was based on the banding of his property being Band G, the second highest banding.
7. The delay in banding a property was the responsibility of the Valuation Office Agency, a body out of jurisdiction. Mr X was fully aware that a Council tax bill would be issued for the backdated period. I notice that a payment of £100 would nearly approximate to a Band A property.
8. Whilst the Council’s assessment of the amount to put aside did not reflect Mr X’s property, I am not persuaded that Mr X could reasonably base his set aside on that figure as the property was clearly not going to be banded at Band A or anywhere near that level. I consider that Mr X could have made reasonable enquiries at the time in order to set aside a more reasonable figure.
9. I do not therefore consider that there are any worthwhile grounds to investigate this matter further.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman