Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax handling for a property Ms X owned. This is because part of the complaint is late and there is no significant injustice regarding more recent matters.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council failed to pay a refund for £60 in October 2024. She says it also sent a further late bill for £18 in 2025 without explanation. She says this caused her stress and inconvenience.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended).
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 that any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)).

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Ms X complained to the Council regarding the matters in paragraph 1.
6. The Council replied it had not received Ms X’s refund request form she said she sent in October 2024 or an email she sent in November 2024 and so had not processed a refund. It said it would issue a refund if she completed a form.
7. The Council also said it sent her a bill for £18 in November 2025 for a short period in 2021 when her property was empty. It said it had sent bills to the property in 2021 but had not chased the matter due to a backlog caused by a cyber-attack. It apologised for the delay and noted Ms X had now paid the outstanding bill.
8. Ms X complained to the Ombudsman in December 2025.
9. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint regarding the refund in 2024 because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons for this.
10. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint regarding the late bill for £18. This is because the injustice due to any fault by the Council is not significant enough to warrant our involvement.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because part of the complaint is late and there is no significant injustice regarding the late issue of a further bill.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman