Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about two council tax summonses the Council sent Mr B. This is because there is no significant injustice to warrant investigation regarding the most recent summons. Part of the complaint is late, and we cannot investigate court proceedings.

The complaint

1. Mr B complains the Council issued a council tax summons in the wrong name 2024. He says the Council said it would remove the summons costs but then denied this. He also complains the Council admitted another summons in 2025 was a mistake, but it did not offer a remedy. He says he attended court and this wasted his time.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), section 34(B)).

3. 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).
4. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended).

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mr B complained to the Council regarding the matters in paragraph 1.
7. The Council replied that there was no error regarding the 2024 summons and it explained it had not received payments in line with the bill. The Council confirmed it had issued a summons in 2025 error. It said it had corrected this as soon as it became aware and had withdrawn the summons and the costs. It there was no ongoing technical fault and it resolved the administrative error. It did not agree it should pay a financial remedy.
8. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about the 2024 summons. This complaint is late and there is no good reason for this. In addition we cannot investigate the issue of council tax summonses because this is the start of court proceedings. As explained in paragraph two, we are not allowed to investigate these matters.
9. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about he summons in 2025. This is because there is no significant injustice due to the Council’s fault that would justify our involvement.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because there is no significant injustice that would warrant investigation. Part of his complaint is late, and we cannot investigate court proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman