Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a council tax matter. This is because the complaint is late and there is no good reason for this.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to bill him correctly for council tax liability for a property he had sold. He says the Council added summons costs and discriminated against him. This caused him distress 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).

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 we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (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 and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. Mr X complained to the Council in May 2025 about it charging council tax for a property he had sold in June 2024.
5. The Council replied Land Registry information showed Mr X still owned the property. It said summons costs had been added and so Mr X owed £166.
6. Mr X replied he had already provided a completion statement from his solicitor which showed he was not liable. He said the Council had harassed him and caused distress for 12 months. He asked for an apology and for the Council to withdraw its charge and costs.
7. The Council replied in June 2025 confirming it had revised the liability reducing the liability to nil and removing the costs.
8. Mr X complained to the Ombudsman in January 2026 that he had provided all the required evidence to the Council but it had sent a summons and caused distress. He said the Council was prejudiced towards him. He said the Council should pay him £500 in compensation.
9. We will not investigate this complaint because it is late as Mr X was aware of the matter for more than 12 months before he complained to the Ombudsman, and there is no good reason for this. Even if we were to investigate we could not achieve the financial compensation Mr X seeks.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late and there is no good reason for this.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman