Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council demanding council tax for a property that was empty during a COVID-19 national lockdown. The complaint about the Council demanding the council tax is late. We have no power to investigate the Council starting court action.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council demanded he pay several months’ council tax on a property he normally rents out. The demand was for a period including the first COVID-19 national lockdown when the property was empty and could not be rented out. Mr X says this resulted in the Council issuing a summons and will affect him adversely financially.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. 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, section 26B, as amended)
3. 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

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and copy complaint correspondence from the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. By July 2020, Mr X knew the Council wanted him to pay the council tax. He did not complain to us until January 2022, 18 months later. So the restriction in paragraph 2 applies. From July to November 2020, Mr X was in the Council’s complaint procedure. The Council’s position did not change then; it maintained Mr X should pay the council tax. Its final response in November 2020 reiterated this and said Mr X could contact us.
7. Mr X told us he did not contact us sooner because the Council did not respond to him further so he ‘…thought they had thought better of it and dropped the matter.’ Then the Council issued a court summons for the unpaid council tax, which prompted Mr X to complain to us.
8. The Council’s responses, including the final complaint response, were clear that the Council expected Mr X to pay the council tax. So I do not see the Council gave Mr X reasonable grounds to believe it had changed its position. I am not persuaded Mr X could reasonably presume the matter had gone away if the Council did not reply further after what it had made clear was its final response. So I consider Mr X could reasonably have complained to us well within 12 months of mid-2020. Therefore I am not persuaded to accept the complaint late.
9. The issuing of the summons (and the addition of any summons costs to the council tax bill) was the start of court action. The law prevents us considering that, as paragraph 3 explained.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the complaint about the Council demanding the council tax is late and we have no power to investigate the Council starting court action.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman