Summary: The Council failed to respond to and properly investigate Mr X’s complaint about the conduct of enforcement agents who visited his home to collect a Council tax debt. The Council agreed to apologise for the uncertainty this caused. There was no fault in how the Council instructed the agents to collect the debt.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the conduct of enforcement agents acting on behalf of the Council when they attended his home to collect a debt. He said the agents forced their way into his home and were rude. Mr X also complained he did not receive notification of the debt beforehand.
2. Mr X said the Council failed to fully respond to his complaint about the matter which caused him and his family distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. When considering complaints we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.
6. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

Council tax arrears

9. There are laws and regulations that control how councils collect council tax payments and how they can make people pay council tax they owe. (Council Tax [Administration and Enforcement] Regulations 1992)
10. Laws and regulations also control how enforcement agents can collect money owed to the council. (The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007)
11. The council tax bill for the year is due on 1 April. A council will usually collect this through monthly instalments. If a person who has to pay council tax misses any instalment, the council will send them a reminder. If they still do not pay, or miss another payment, then they must pay all they owe (that is the full amount for the rest of the year)
12. Councils who want to recover unpaid council tax have to ask the magistrate’s court for a liability order against people it thinks owe it the money. Once a council has a liability order it can take action to recover the money and any court costs owed. Once a Council has a liability order it can use enforcement agents to recover the debt.

Enforcement agents

13. If a council has a liability order from the magistrates’ court it can ask an enforcement agent) to visit a person’s property and take goods worth up to the amount of council tax debt and costs.
14. When considering complaints about enforcement agents as well as the relevant law and regulations we also consider their actions against the standards set out by the Enforcement Conduct Board, an independent body which considers the actions of enforcement agents.

Complaints about enforcement agents

15. If a Council receives a complaint about enforcement agents it has commissioned then its policy is to refer the matter to the company to investigate. Relevant guidance states where complaints about conduct are received then Body Worn Video footage should be retained and examined as part of any investigation.

What happened

16. In May 2025 the Council wrote to Mr X because he had not paid any instalments towards his Council tax for the 2025/26 year. The letter told Mr X if he did not make a payment within seven days he would be liable for the full account balance.
17. Mr X did not make any payments towards the arrears. In June 2025 the Court wrote to Mr X to tell him the Council had asked it to grant a liability order for the debt with the hearing set to take place in July 2025. The letter offered Mr X the opportunity to pay the debt in instalments.
18. Mr X did not contact the Council or the Court and so in July 2025 the Court issued a liability order. The Council passed the matter to enforcement agents to collect the debt in August 2025.
19. Records show the enforcement agents sent Mr X a notice of enforcement letter during August 2025 asking Mr X to contact it before mid-September. The enforcement agents also sent Mr X text messages asking him to make contact with it.
20. As Mr X did not make contact or make any payments the enforcement agents attended at his property in September 2025 to collect the debt. Records show Mr X paid the full amount including the enforcement fees that day.
21. Mr X complained to the Council the same day. He complained about the conduct and behaviour of the enforcement agents. Mr X said he had received no prior notification of the debt and said he was already on a payment plan for Council tax debt. He said the enforcement agents forced their way into his home which caused distress to his wife and child. Mr X said the enforcement agent forced him to pay the full amount.
22. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaint in October 2025 at stage one of its complaints procedure. It said Mr X’s payment plan was unrelated to this Council tax debt. The Council outlined the efforts it made to contact him and why it sent the matter to enforcement agents.
23. Mr X remained unhappy and escalated his complaint to stage two of the complaints process. He reiterated his previous concerns about the unacceptable conduct from the agents and asked the Council to look at the Body Worn Video footage.
24. The Council issued a final response in November 2025 repeating what it said in the stage one response.
25. Mr X remained unhappy and complained to us.

The Council’s response to us

26. The Council accepted that it did not fully respond to Mr X’s complaint around the conduct of the enforcement agents. It acknowledged it did not obtain or view the Body Worn Video footage at the time which was now unavailable. It said it would remind officers to ensure Body Worn Video footage is obtained in the future when it receives complaints about enforcement agent conduct.

My findings

27. Evidence shows no fault in how the Council instructed enforcement agents to collect Council tax arrears from Mr X. The Council sent bills and reminders to Mr X’s correct address. The liability and enforcement notice were also sent to the correct address. Further the enforcement agents sent numerous text messages and attempted calls to Mr X’s correct telephone number. Mr X states he did not receive prior notification, but all communications and letters were sent using correct details. The enforcement agents were entitled to request full payment of the debt upon visiting Mr X which is also not fault.
28. The Council has accepted it did not handle Mr X’s complaint correctly. Mr X’s complaint was clear at both stage one and stage two that he had concerns about the conduct and behaviour of the enforcement agents. This being said the Council should have ensured either it or the enforcement agents fully responded to the complaint by retaining and viewing the Body Worn Video footage. Not doing so was fault which meant it failed to properly respond to his complaint which has caused uncertainty over exactly what happened and how the enforcement agents behaved upon visiting Mr X.

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Action

29. Within one month of the final decision the Council agreed to take the following action:
1. Apologise to Mr X for the uncertainty caused to him by failing to fully respond and investigate his complaint about the conduct of enforcement agents. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended.
2. Remind complaints officers by way of a briefing or staff training to request retention of Body Worn Video footage when it receives complaints about enforcement agents acting on behalf of the Council. This is to ensure officers can investigate and fully respond to such complaints.
30. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

31. I found fault causing injustice and the Council agreed to my recommendations to remedy that injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman