Birmingham City Council (25 025 769)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 28 Jun 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax. This is because the complaint is late and there is no good reason for this. And Ms X could have appealed the council tax liability decision to the Valuation Tribunal.
The complaint
- Ms X says her landlord withheld council tax letters and demanded that she paid council tax, when this was her landlord’s responsibility. She now has a council tax bill for over £7000. She also says the Council did not reply to her complaint for 19 months. This is causing her stress and anxiety.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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).
- 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)
- The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Ms X complained to the Council in May 2024 about the matters in paragraph 1.
- We will not investigate this complaint because it is about matters Ms X was aware of before May 2024. Ms X complained to the Ombudsman in February 2026. Her complaint is therefore late, as it is over 12 months since she became aware of the matter, and there is no good reason for the delay.
- I note Ms X says the Council took 19 months to respond to her complaint. However, we would expect a complainant to come to the Ombudsman within 12 12 months.
- It is also reasonable to have expected Ms X to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal if she disagreed with the Council’s decision that she was liable for council tax.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is late and she could have appealed to the Valuation Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman