Summary: Ms X complains the Council failed to contact her properly about her council tax bill and later wrongly told her she had paid off her council tax debt in full. Ms X says this meant she had to pay extra bailiffs’ fees. The Council is at fault for failing to respond to Ms X’s contact according to its process. It has suitably remedied the injustice Ms X experienced because of its fault.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council:
• sent her council tax bills to her old address and did not try to reach her using another method; and
• wrongly told her she had paid off her council tax bill in full.
2. She says this meant the bailiffs visited her home and charged her fees. She says the visit was distressing.
3. Ms X says she wants a refund of the money she had to pay.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
5. When considering complaints, if there is a conflict of evidence, we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we will weigh up the available relevant evidence and base our findings on what we think was more likely to have happened.
6. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

7. I have considered:
• all the information Ms X provided and discussed the complaint with her;
• the Council’s comments about the complaint and the supporting documents it provided; and
• relevant law and guidance and our guidance on remedies.
8. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Relevant legislation and guidance

Liability

9. The Local Government Finance Act 1992 sets out the hierarchy for who is liable for paying council tax. Tenants are liable for the property they live in. If the tenants move out, the owner becomes liable until new tenants move in.

Council tax reminders

10. Under section 233 of the Local Government Act 1972, councils should service notices, including council tax reminders, by giving it to the person, leaving it at their ‘proper address’ or posting to their ‘proper address’. The proper address is the person’s last known address.

Council tax recovery

11. If a person misses a council tax payment, a council must issue a reminder notice (at least seven days after the missed payment). If the person does not pay the arrears, the balance for the full year becomes due. A council can then apply to the Magistrates Court for a liability order. If the court is satisfied the sum has become payable and has not been paid, it must grant an order.
12. Councils will charge costs for the issue of a summons to court and a liability order. Once a council has obtained a liability order it can take steps to recover the debt without any duty to tell the debtor. This usually involves passing the debt to enforcement agents, known as bailiffs.
13. Bailiffs follow a procedure to recover the debt, as set out in “The Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013”. The first stage is compliance, which involves any activity taken by the bailiffs from when they accept the debt to when they take enforcement action. It includes notifying the person of the debt and giving them an opportunity to pay. Enforcement is any action from the first visit to a debtor’s home to the point when goods are ready for sale.
14. “The Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014” sets out the fees for each stage. The fee for the compliance stage is £75 and for enforcement is £235.
15. Under section 52(4) of the “The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992”, any payments made by the debtor are first put towards any costs, including any bailiffs’ costs.

What happened

16. Ms X owns a property that she rents out. Ms X became liable for the council tax at the property after tenants moved out in summer 2016.
17. The day after the tenants left the property, the Council sent a bill for £150.78 to Ms X at her last known address.
18. It then sent a reminder notice and when it did not hear from Ms X, it sent a summons. The issuing of a summons incurred a fee of £112.
19. In September 2016, new tenants moved into the property so Ms X’s liability for the council tax ended. The Council wrote to Ms X in October to confirm this.
20. In November 2016, the Council obtained a liability order from the courts. The Council’s policy on council tax recovery says that when they ask for a liability order, they also ask the judge to award costs. In 2016/2017 these costs were £8. This meant Ms X’s debt totalled £270.78.
21. The Council then asked a bailiff company to recover the debt from Ms X. By 2018 the bailiffs had not managed to contact Ms X and so ended its contact with the Council.
22. In 2019 the Council asked a different bailiff to recover Ms X’s debt.
23. In August 2019, the bailiff contacted Ms X and told her about the debt. This meant Ms X incurred the £75 compliance fee. Her debt became £345.78.
24. Ms X contacted the Council the same day and paid £270.78. She says a customer adviser told her this was the full debt. However, it left £75 of charges outstanding.
25. Later in the month the bailiffs contacted Ms X by text and letter to tell her she still owed £75. It said if she did not pay the sum, it might visit her home to take goods to the value of the debt. Ms X called the bailiffs to say the Council had told her she paid the full debt. The bailiffs told Ms X this was wrong, and she still had outstanding debt. Ms X did not pay the debt or contact the Council to query this.
26. The bailiffs later visited Ms X’s property adding the £235 enforcement fee to the debt, although no one was at home. Ms X then paid the outstanding debt.
27. In October 2019, Ms X complained. The Council’s complaint policy says it will respond to complaints within twenty working days of receipt.
28. The Council responded to Ms X in late-November 2019, two weeks after a response was due. It said:
• it was sorry for the delay in responding to her October complaint;
• it was satisfied it acted lawfully in how it sent Ms X the council tax bills; and
• it accepted the customer advisor should have directed Ms X to the bailiffs to pay the debt. This would have ensured Ms X paid the full debt. However, it said it could not say whether the member of staff had told Ms X she had paid the full debt because it could not listen to the call recording. It therefore did not uphold her complaint and would not refund her the fees.
29. After Ms X’s complaint, the Council re-trained the customer advisor who took payment from Ms X. It added more detail to its guidance about how to deal with calls from people whose accounts were with bailiffs. It also said it included the extra information in its training.
30. In its response to my enquiries, the Council said an administrative error meant Ms X’s council tax account was credited with an extra £75. It said it would not seek a refund of the amount.

Back to top

Findings

Contact

31. Ms X told another council department her new address and assumed this would be passed onto the council tax department. However, council departments do not regularly share contact information. If Ms X wanted the Council to send her bills to a different address, it was her responsibility to contact the council tax department directly.
32. Ms X says the Council should have called or emailed her when she did not respond to the council tax bills in 2016. She also feels the Council should have sent the bills to the property she was renting out. The Local Government Act 1972 says councils should contact the bill payer at their ‘proper’, or last known address. The Council wrote to Ms X at her last known address, so there is no fault in its actions.

Payment of the debt

33. The Council has acknowledged it was at fault for failing to direct Ms X to the bailiffs when she called to pay her debt. If it had done this, Ms X would have been aware of the full debt she accrued.
34. On the balance of probability, I find the Council was also at fault for telling Ms X the payment of £270.78 cleared her debt. However, the contact Ms X had with the bailiffs in September shows she was aware there was outstanding debt and that inaction would lead to a visit and further costs. It is reasonable for Ms X to have paid the outstanding debt and contacted the Council to confirm the situation.
35. The Council says it will not request a return of the £75 it credited to Ms X’s council tax account. This is sufficient to remedy the uncertainty and distress Ms X experienced because of the Council’s fault.

Complaints handling

36. The Council is at fault for responding to Ms X’s complaint two weeks after it was due. The Council apologised for the delay. This is suitable remedy for the uncertainty Ms X experienced.

Back to top

Final decision

37. I have completed my investigation. I have found fault by the Council. The Council has appropriately remedied any injustice to Ms X.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman