Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about business rates. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s decision to charge him business rates between October 2022 and December 2022. He said it had previously issued a bill that he was exempt from paying rates until March 2023. He said that bill did not state it was an interim bill.
2. Mr X said the Council’s decision had caused financial hardship as he delayed finding a new tenant for his business. He then agreed to a tenancy at a lower rent. He said he did not have the money to pay the business rates. Mr X wants the Council to write off the debt in acknowledgement of its mistake.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mr X emailed the Council in August 2022, stating that he no-longer had a tenant for the business and the property was unoccupied. He asked the Council to apply the three-month exemption for an unoccupied property. The Council responded in September 2022. It confirmed it had applied the exemption for three months from the date Mr X’s tenant left. The Council sent Mr X a business rate bill, the next day. That showed no rates were due until March 2023.
7. Although the Council issued a bill in September 2022 not showing any business rates were payable, I am satisfied by the email communication between Mr X and the Council, that he was aware the business rate exemption only applied for three-months from July 2022. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint as there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
8. The Council issued further bills in October and November 2022 when Mr X became liable for business rates. Mr X said he did not receive the bill issued in October 2022 and the Council has been unable to provide him a copy of it. In its complaint response, the Council confirmed it deleted files after 30 days because of data protection legislation. It said its records confirmed it issued the bill. There is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council issued the bill or its decision to delete it to justify investigating.
9. Despite Mr X stating it was not clear in the September 2022 bill that it could be superseded by another bill, it is not unusual for councils to issue revised bills throughout the year. The Council issued a new bill when Mr X became liable for business rates. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman