London Borough of Haringey (23 004 803)
Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 24 Jul 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council tax payment as there was a right of appeal to a tribunal and there is no evidence of fault.
The complaint
- Ms X complains that the Council have failed to acknowledge a payment of Council tax she made and are still enforcing a Council tax debt.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal 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 appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
- The Social Entitlement Chamber (also known as the Social Security Appeal Tribunal) is a tribunal that considers housing benefit appeals. (The Social Entitlement Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal)
- We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Ms X says that she was sent a bill for £1444 by the Council which she paid (after obtaining assistance from a charity). She says that the Council are still enforcing a Council tax debt after this payment.
- The Council says that the bill was for a housing benefit overpayment and that she has not paid her full Council tax bill. The Council says therefore that the Council tax enforcement will continue.
- Ms X had a right of appeal to a tribunal if she wished to dispute the housing benefit overpayment. The tribunal is an expert body and their decisions are binding on the Council. I see no reason why an appeal could not be made in this case.
- The Council has provided an explanation of the debt repayment. In the absence of any procedural fault, the Ombudsman cannot question their decision to pursue enforcement of the unpaid Council tax bill.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman