Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council taking court action against her when she fell into arrears with her Council tax. She also complained about the actions of enforcement agents when they visited her home in 2020 and removed some of her belongings. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot investigate matters which have been subject to court proceedings and there is insufficient evidence of fault in the enforcement agents’ recovery action.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Council taking court action against her in 2019 for unpaid council tax. She says she wanted to pay the arrears over a 12-month period, but they pursued her for the full amount when she went into arrears. She says enforcement agents employed by the Council visited her home in 2020 and took goods even though she says she had paid the arrears in full.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered all the information which Mrs X submitted with her complaint. I have also considered the Council’s response. Mrs X has been given an opportunity to comment on a draft copy of my decision.

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What I found

5. Mrs X received a summons and a subsequent liability order in 2019 after she failed to maintain instalments of council tax. She says she wanted to pay over 12 months instead of 10 but the Council took court action and ended her right to instalments.
6. We cannot investigate complaints about matters which have been subject to court proceedings and this includes her complaint about the court action which took place in June 2019.
7. Mrs X says enforcement agents in visited her home in 2020 and removed goods even though she says had paid the arrears. The Council says her payment had not been received that day and that there were substantial costs outstanding since the court action in 2019. She complained about the actions of the bailiffs and because the actions were videoed with a police officer present.
8. The Council says this was standard procedure and the filmed record was to safeguard all parties from later allegations. The police presence was required to ensure no breach of the peace took place during what was a stressful situation.
9. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the procedure which took place to recover the debt from Mrs X.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot investigate matters which have been subject to court proceedings and there is insufficient evidence of fault in the enforcement agents’ recovery action.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman