London Borough of Croydon (25 022 700)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 07 May 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mr X’s council tax account and the summons it sent him. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant investigation.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council failed to act fairly and proportionately when it issued a summons for non payment of council tax and added £132.50 costs. He says he paid his council tax and it was clear he was willing to comply.
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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)).
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complained to the Council regarding the matters in paragraph 1.
- The Council replied it correctly issued the summons and applied £132.50 costs because Mr X paid five instalments significantly late. It said it sent two reminders and a final notice, but Mr X did not respond or bring the account up to date. Mr X first contacted the Council after the summons. It said it could exercise its discretion to remove costs if there was a very good reason. But it did not consider it was appropriate in this case. The Council confirmed it had set up a special payment arrangement to clear the balance including the summons costs.
- We will not investigate this complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify investigation. The Council explained the payments were late and it sent reminders and final notice before issuing the summons. There were no good reasons to remove the summons or costs.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman