Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to charge Ms X council tax for six months. This is because the Council has conceded fault and provided a suitable remedy to address the injustice Ms X experienced. An investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to charge her council tax for six months and this has led to a significant debt on the account.

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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:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council set up a council tax account for Ms X in March 2023. The Council has acknowledged it recorded her sort code details incorrectly, which led to a failure to collect her council tax instalments for six months.
6. The Council contacted Ms X in Oct 23 to alert her to the issue and to set up a revised payment instalment plan. Ms X complained to the Council as she was unhappy with the resulting debt on the account and the impact this would have on her mental health.
7. The Council investigated and found that a system error was responsible for failing to recognise Ms X’s payments were not being collected. The Council also found it could have referred Ms X’s complaint to a customer facing department quicker than it did. The Council apologised, confirmed it would put required staff training in place where applicable and offered Ms X a £100 goodwill award to address the inconvenience she had experienced.
8. Ms X remains unhappy with the Council’s actions and wants the Ombudsman to instruct the Council to waive a substantial amount of the outstanding council tax debt. The Council has previously conceded it was at fault for failing to collect Ms X’s council tax payments. The Council then conducted a thorough investigation into what happened, provided an explanation, and offered suitable remedies to address the injustice caused to Ms X. Whilst it is understandable that Ms X is unhappy with the situation, the outstanding debt represents council tax she is liable for; the Council is entitled to request that she pay it. An investigation into this matter would not lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because an investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman