Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s actions to recover Mr X’s council tax debt. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council escalated his council tax debt to court action and bailiff enforcement without giving him reasonable opportunity to resolve the debt or contacting him via email.
2. Mr X said this caused him stress and financial pressure and he wanted the Council to remove or reduce the court and enforcement fees, review its internal policies and apologise.

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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 not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating (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.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X moved out of his property in May 2025, he believed he had provided his new address to the Council, but it has no record of this.
7. The Council issued a final council tax bill to Mr X in May 2025, this was sent to his last known address on its systems, where Mr X was no longer residing. Mr X did not pay the bill, so the Council sent a reminder notice in July and a summons in August.
8. The court issued a liability order in September, and the account was passed to Enforcement Agents to recover the arrears, court fees and enforcement fees from Mr X.
9. Mr X made partial payment to the Enforcement Agents in November, he said he was shocked by their involvement, and the additional fees caused him financial pressure.
10. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s action to recover Mr X’s council tax debt. The Council followed their process and sent all notifications to the last know address for Mr X and escalated to the courts and enforcement when Mr X did not pay. The Council also explained that whilst Mr X’s email address was listed on his e-Revenues’ account, this is for login purposes only, not issuing bills. In any event, Mr X was not registered for e-billing at the relevant time.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s action to recover Mr X’s council tax debt because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman