Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council handled Mr Y’s council tax accounts and enforcement action. This is because there is another body better placed to consider the complaint and it is reasonable to expect Mr Y to use his right to appeal about the matter.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complains the Council:

• Wrongly credited his closed council tax account with his payments which were due to his current council tax account, putting Mr Y’s open council tax account into arrears.
• Revoked past exemptions Mr Y had as a student
• Took enforcement action against him for arrears on his council tax account, caused by the Council’s error in crediting the incorrect account.

2. Mr Y says this has caused him financial hardship and affected his and his family’s wellbeing.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 another body better placed to consider this complaint (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)).
4. 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)
5. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Mr Y.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mr Y believed he had been paying into his council tax account (account A), however the Council had deposited those payments into a previously closed council tax account (account B) of Mr Y’s. This led to him having arrears in his active account (account A) and enforcement action taken because the money was sat in a closed account (account B).
9. Mr Y queried this with the Council. On investigation, the Council found that Mr Y was not entitled to all the student exemptions he had claimed on account B. This left a shortfall on account B and the Council used the credits accumulated in account B to cover the debt on the account.
10. Mr Y was not happy that the account he had been paying for (account A) had not been credited and that money had been used towards an old debt that had been uncovered in account B.
11. Mr Y was also not happy that some of his student discounts were revoked so many years later.
12. The Ombudsman cannot deal with the issue of entitlement to and revocation of student discounts. This is a matter better dealt with by the Valuation Tribunal as they can determine whether Mr Y was entitled to the student discounts and whether the Council was correct to revoke them.
13. It is reasonable to expect Mr Y to use the Valuation Tribunal as it is a free service and deals with decisions about liability for council tax, discretionary discounts, exemptions, and discounts such as those for students.
14. The issue about enforcement action cannot be decided on until the Valuation Tribunal has decided whether the exemptions were correctly revoked. If the Valuation Tribunal finds the Council was correct and Mr Y was not entitled to the student discounts, then the debt is owed and the Council has a right to enforcement action.
15. Although the Council credited the payments into the closed account and then used them towards this discovered debt; if the debt is owed, the Council has the right to cover money paid towards an earlier debt but this will also depend on the decision of the Valuation Tribunal. The Valuation Tribunal can decide whether the amount is owed on the debt. Therefore, as the Valuation Tribunal is both better placed and it is reasonable to expect Mr Y to appeal. We will not investigate.

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Final decision

16. We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because there is another body better placed to consider the complaint and it is reasonable to expect Mr Y to use his right to appeal about the matter.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman