Vale of White Horse District Council (21 016 638)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Council tax 04-Mar-2022

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint the Council has billed her for too much council tax because her home is in the wrong property band. There is no fault by the Council because it bills according to the banding decisions of the Valuation Office Agency. Those decisions can be appealed to the Valuation Tribunal.

London Borough of Barnet (21 006 741)

Statement Upheld Council tax 04-Mar-2022

Summary: Mr D complained about how the Council handled his council tax account. He also says the Council failed to make reasonable adjustments and delayed responding to his complaints. We find the Council was at fault as it delayed responding to the complaint. It also failed to address all the issues raised in the complaint and failed to properly investigate whether it had enough information to backdate Mr D’s council tax reduction claim. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to address Mr D’s injustice.

City of York Council (21 009 673)

Statement Not upheld Council tax 03-Mar-2022

Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to inform him during a phone call that unless he paid his council tax arrears he would shortly be subject to court proceedings. We do not find fault with the Council as Mr X had not paid council tax for several months and was given sufficient notice in writing that a court summons would be issued if he did not pay the arrears before a certain date.

East Cambridgeshire District Council (21 015 843)

Statement Upheld Council tax 02-Mar-2022

Summary: Ms X complains about the way the Council dealt with her council tax payments. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because the matter has been remedied.

Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council (21 016 041)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Council tax 02-Mar-2022

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to recover council tax support overpayments. That is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

London Borough of Sutton (21 016 357)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Council tax 01-Mar-2022

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the council tax empty homes premium. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because the problem has been resolved.

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council (21 016 083)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Council tax 01-Mar-2022

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about issues arising from a council tax payment. Fault by the Council has not caused the complainant injustice that would justify our involvement.

Eastleigh Borough Council (21 016 671)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Council tax 28-Feb-2022

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council refusing Miss X a council tax exemption. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. There was a right to appeal to a tribunal, which it would have been reasonable to expect Miss X to use.

London Borough of Ealing (21 016 121)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Council tax 28-Feb-2022

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax liability. Part of the period has already been considered by a court of law and it would be reasonable for the complainant to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal against any demand from the Council for the current year. There is no fault in the Council not awarding council tax support if the taxpayer has not made a claim for it, regardless of whether the person is entitled separately to Universal Credit.

Coventry City Council (21 016 099)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Council tax 25-Feb-2022

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council handled a reassessment of his council tax support claim. Mr X has a right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal if he disagrees with the decision. It is reasonable for him to go to the Information Commissioner if he has a data protection complaint.