London Borough of Barnet (25 027 493)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 17 Aug 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about allocation of council tax payments. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant investigation.
The complaint
- Mr X says the Council misallocated payments he made in June and July 2025. This led to the Council cancelling his direct debit, issuing a summons and adding costs. This caused him stress and anxiety.
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 that it had not misallocated payments. It explained that Mr X had not made payments on the exact date requested on the bill. If payments are paid late they are paid to the oldest outstanding debt in accordance with procedure. The Council said that it had transferred payments Mr X intended to pay to the 2025/2026 in a timely manner when Mr X brought this to the Council’s attention.
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant investigation. When payments are made late or are not the exact amount they are normally allocated to the oldest debt. The Council corrected payments intended for the current year, but the allocation to different years does not appear due to a fault by the Council.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman