Summary: We will not investigate this council tax complaint from a landlord. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and insufficient evidence of injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains about the way the Council handled the council tax account for a property he rents to tenants. Mr X wants compensation.

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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 an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes email exchanges and the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. Mr X complained after he received council tax bills, at his address, in the name of his late father. The council tax related to a property Mr X had bought from his mother. Mr X had rented the property to a tenant. Mr X alleges the Council knew about the tenant’s circumstances and billed Mr X, or his father, in error and as an abuse of power.
5. The Council explained it did not know Mr X’s father had died and wrote to his father at Mr X’s address as that was the correspondence address provided by the letting’s agent. The agent told the Council the tenant had left in early 2023. The Council also explained the council tax team did not know anything about the tenant because it is separate to the housing service. It also said it is the responsibility of tenants to inform council tax when they move into or leave a property.
6. After Mr X provided more information, the Council issued an amended bill making Mr X liable for a few weeks in the summer when the property was empty. The Council apologised for sending bills to Mr X’s late father but said it was acting on the information it held. The current position is that Mr X owes council tax of £61 for the period when the property was empty and had no tenant.
7. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council responded to information from the agent by making Mr X’s father, as the last known owner, liable for the council tax after the tenant left. It changed the liability once Mr X provided more information and reduced the council tax charge again, after Mr X provided further information. The Council acted properly with the information it had and there is nothing requiring an investigation.
8. I also will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of injustice. Mr X has not suffered a financial loss and has only been charged council tax for the period when he was liable for the empty property. I appreciate it may have been upsetting to receive letters for his late father, but the Council apologised and explained what had happened. I acknowledge Mr X spent some time dealing with this matter but we do not expect councils to pay compensation simply because a person had to spend some time sorting out an issue. There was no undue delay by the Council and nothing that requires compensation.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault and insufficient evidence of injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman