Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax liability. This is because the complainant has a right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal and it is reasonable to expect her to use it. Part of the complaint is late, and we will not investigate it.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council made her liable for council tax for a period she says her tenant should be liable. She says the Council applied an empty property discount for a month, but she did not receive the 100% discount for a full month.
2. Ms X also complains the Council did not correct her name after she advised it three to four years ago.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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).
4. 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).

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Ms X complained to the Council regarding the matters in paragraph 1.
7. The Council replied it had received information from the tenant that they had moved out in mid-October 2025. The Council ended the tenant’s council tax liability and started liability for Ms X as the landlord. The Council said it had applied an unoccupied and unfurnished discount for one month from mid-October. The Council said it had then revised the liability to end later in early November when Ms X said the tenant had not returned the keys. The Council explained it had applied the discount correctly for one month while the property was empty. It advised Ms X how she could appeal the liability decision to the Valuation Tribunal.
8. We will not investigate the complaint about council tax liability and the discount. This is because it is reasonable to expect Ms X to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. This is the appropriate body to consider appeals about liability.
9. The Council said it had no record of Ms X advising it of her name change three to four years ago. We will not investigate this complaint because it is late, as it relates to matters Ms X was aware of more than 12 months before her complaint to the Ombudsman, and there is no good reason for the delay.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect her to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal and her other complaint is late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman