Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s collection of council tax payments. There is insufficient evidence of any significant injustice which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s failure to ensure that his request for direct debit payments was put in place for the monthly instalment dates. He says he now faces higher instalments due to the delay and that some of the payments should be written off.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X says he arranged for a direct debit to be set up for payment of his council tax in monthly instalments in April 2023. The first payments for May and June were not collected and the Council advised him that his bank had stated the instruction had been cancelled. Mr X denies he did this and the Council was at fault. As the arrangement was in place and the bank communicated with the Council this was a matter for Mr X and his bank to resolve.
6. Another direct debit was arranged for August with higher instalments but there was insufficient time for this to take the August payment. The Council apologised for this and set up a later arrangement. It was reasonable for Mr X to have paid the instalments he owed by August manually as they were still outstanding. He did not do so and the later monthly instalments were higher to reflect what he owed. Mr X feels this is unaffordable and that the council should write off the unpaid instalments because of its delays.
7. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X owes more than he would have had his bank released the original instalments. He has been aware of how much was owed for the financial year and the different means of payment available to ensure that he did not get behind with payments.
8. I can see no reason why the Council should write off or reduce the amount owed by Mr X because he has suffered no significant injustice as a result of its actions.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s collection of council tax payments. There is insufficient evidence of any significant injustice which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman