Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council delayed billing the complainant for council tax. This is 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 delayed issuing a council tax bill and then demanded immediate payment of £3000. Mr X wants an apology and a refund.

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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. (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 our Assessment Code. I also considered comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

4. Mr X moved into his home in September 2022. He registered for council services which, he says, shows he was not trying to hide or avoid paying council tax. Mr X says he returned a form to the Council about a month after moving in; he thinks the form was to register for council tax.
5. Mr X says he heard nothing further from the council tax department until November 2023 when he received a bill for £3000. Mr X says he should only have to pay from November and he should not be penalised for the Council’s failure. Mr X paid council tax at his previous address and says he never missed a payment.
6. Mr X was worried the Council would take recovery action so he borrowed money to pay the council tax. He felt forced to pay because he had received a letter dated 15 January giving him seven days to pay but the complaint reply of 16 January said a hold would be applied until 31 January. Mr X says this shows a contradictory approach and he felt forced to make an immediate payment. Mr X says the Council should have put the account on hold until he had exhausted all the complaint avenues.
7. In response to the complaint the Council explained it is the responsibility of the occupier to register for council tax. The Council said it sent four new occupier forms but did not get a response. It also said there was no record Mr X had contacted the council tax team to register for council tax and no record he got in touch to ask why he had not received a bill. The Council put a hold on the account to give Mr X time to make a payment arrangement. It also signposted Mr X to sources of financial support.
8. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council is correct to say it is the responsibility of the occupier to register for council tax and it has no record of Mr X contacting the council tax team. Mr X says he returned the first form; the Council has no record of receiving it. It is unlikely we could find out what happened to the form. However, given that Mr X was aware of the need to pay council tax, it is reasonable to expect he would have contacted the Council to ask why he had not received a bill. Mr X paid no council tax for over a year and, as he has stressed he was not trying to avoid paying, he could have put money aside pending receipt of the bill.
9. The Council says its records show it sent four forms asking for details of the new occupier. I do not know why Mr X did not receive all of them but, as said above, he could have contacted the Council to query the absence of a bill.
10. Mr X says he should only pay from November. But, his liability started when he bought the property and he benefitted from council services since that date. Mr X borrowed money to pay the bill but the Council invited him to contact the recovery team to discuss an arrangement. This was an appropriate offer for the Council to make and may have avoided the need for Mr X to borrow money. The Council also signposted Mr X to financial support.
11. Mr X says the Council gave contradictory information about a hold. But the letter applying the hold was dated after the letter asking for payment so the approach was not contradictory. Mr X says the Council should have suspended the account while he remained in dispute. But, the Council was not required to do so and it did apply a hold to give him time to make a payment plan. Offering a payment arrangement is good practice when there has been delayed billing.

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Final decision

12. We will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman