Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax arrears because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, says the Council has bullied and harassed him regarding his council tax. He says the Council threatened him with court if he did not pay for the whole year even though he left after seven months. Mr X wants a refund, apology and a designated person to handle his account.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 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

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. I also considered our Assessment Code and comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

4. The law says people must pay their council tax before the instalment date stated on the bill. If they do not pay they lose the right to pay by instalments. The Council can then issue a final notice which demands they pay the full amount due for the rest of the year. If they do not pay the Council can serve a summons and ask the magistrates for a liability order. A liability order is an order confirming the person must pay the council tax. Costs are incurred by the tax payer when a summons is issued.
5. Mr X moved into a property in January 2021. The Council sent a council tax bill; the first payment was due on 1 February. The Council sent a reminder, final notice and summons because Mr X did not make any payments until September. Mr X incurred court costs.
6. The Council issued a bill in March 2021 for the new financial year. The first payment was due on 1 April. Again, the Council issued a reminder and final notice because Mr X did not make any payments until September.
7. In September Mr X asked for the single person discount. The Council applied the discount from January and issued adjusted bills. Mr X paid £790 in September and, after the adjusted bills had been sent in September, he owed £87.
8. Mr X did not pay the £87 so the Council issued a summons in November and charged a further £60 in costs. Mr X paid all the arrears. The Council withdrew the summons and said it would refund the court costs for the second summons.
9. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council took recovery action because Mr X did not pay as billed. The Council sent all the documents it was required to send before serving a summons and it required payment for the whole year because Mr X lost the right to pay by instalment. But, the Council issued revised bills when Mr X claimed the single person discount and when it found out Mr X had moved. And, while it had not done anything wrong, it will refund the second set of court costs. There is nothing to suggest fault by the Council and no reason to start an investigation.
10. Mr X says the Council forced him to pay for the whole year even though he explained he had left. But, the Council adjusted the bills when it found out he had moved and, in any case, Mr X had already incurred costs because he had not paid as billed. Mt X has not paid anything more than the council tax that was due and the court costs which were correctly charged.
11. Mr X says he has not received the refund for the second summons. The Council received Mr X’s bank details last week and says it will process the refund this week.

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Final decision

12. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman