East Lindsey District Council (25 021 905)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 22 Apr 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to properly determine Mr X’s council tax liability. This is because an investigation would be unlikely to result in a different outcome.
The complaint
- Mr X complained the Council held him liable for council tax for a period he was not responsible for.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complained the Council held him liable for council tax on a property he only lived in for a week. He said it took the Council nine months to realise its error.
- The Council apologised and explained it acted on the information available to it at the time. The Council said it would take steps to ensure this did not happen again and offered Mr X a £30 financial award.
- Mr X remains upset by the Council’s decision. The Ombudsman does not level punitive measures against Councils. Whilst this matter no doubt caused Mr X inconvenience, he has not sustained significant injustice due this matter. The Council has provided an apology, an explanation, and a proportionate goodwill award. This is in line with what we would expect. An investigation would therefore be unlikely to result in a different outcome.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because an investigation would be unlikely to result in a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman