Summary: Mr X complains the Council was at fault as officers gave him wrong information, so he was issued with a summons for non-payment of Council Tax causing distress. The Council has accepted it was at fault. It has already apologised to Mr X and taken action in recognition of the distress caused. So, we have completed our investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant whom I shall refer to as Mr X complains Council officers gave him wrong information about paying his Council Tax, so he was issued with a summons for non-payment in error. Mr X says the Council also incorrectly tried to collect an outstanding amount of Council Tax which covered by a Debt Relief Order.
2. Mr X says Council officers were rude to him and its actions have caused him distress and affected his mental health.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 or may decide not to continue with 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, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the council, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the complaint and documents provided by Mr X. We asked the Council to provide information on the complaint including the telephone calls between officers and Mr X. I have considered the information provided and listened to the recordings.
6. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Debt Relief Order

7. A Debt Relief Order (DRO) is a way of dealing with debts when a person cannot afford to pay for them. It means the person does not have to pay certain types of debt for a specified period, usually 12 months. At the end of the DRO period the debt included in it will be written off, so the person does not have to pay them. If the person’s circumstances change and they can pay some or all the debts the DRO may be revoked so they can arrange to pay their creditors.
8. A person can only apply for a DRO through an authorised debt adviser who makes the application on a person’s behalf. The application goes to an official receiver at the bankruptcy court who decides if the DRO should be granted. A person still has to pay any new debts incurred after the DRO is granted.

What happened in this case

9. What follows is a brief chronology of key events. It does not contain all the information I reviewed during my investigation.
10. Mr X gained a DRO in February 2022 which listed his creditors subject to the Order. This included three amounts of Council Tax owed to the Council.
11. The Council issued Mr X with a Council Tax bill for the 2022/23 annual charge of £1077.67 payable in 12 instalments. Mr X needed to make his first payment of £87.67 on 05 April 2022 followed by nine further instalments of £90 from 5 May 2022 to 5 March 2023. The Council received a payment of £50 from Mr X on 8 April 2022.
12. The Council issued Mr X with a revised bill of £956.81 on 17 August 2022 due to a change in Mr X’s Council Tax reduction. Mr X now needed to pay £134.81 on 1 September 2022 followed by six instalments of £137.00 due on 1st of each month.
13. Mr X did not make a payment for September 2022, so the Council sent a reminder notice on 16 September 2022 for the unpaid instalment of £134.81. Mr X called the Council in September 2022 about the reminder and spoke to an officer. Mr X said the Council wanted him to pay his Council Tax at the beginning of the month. But he could not do so until the end of the month when he was paid.
14. The officer told Mr X his payment would be overdue if he paid at the end of the month. Mr X asked to change his payment date. He was told the Council could only change a payment date if he paid by direct debit, but Mr X paid by other means. The officer agreed as a goodwill gesture to place a hold on his account for that month, so he did not receive a summons in September. But Mr X needed to make future payments on time. The officer gave Mr X the opportunity to set up a direct debit for the 1st of the month starting in November but increasing the instalments. Mr X did not want to do this.
15. Mr X called the Council on 19 October 2022 and spoke to an officer as he had not made the September and October payments. Mr X explained why he missed the payments, asked for some ‘leeway‘ and hoped to make the September and October payments the following week. The officer agreed to put a hold on Mr X’s account for the week as a goodwill gesture to prevent him receiving a summons for non-payment. This was because Mr X was due to make a payment.
16. Mr X paid £157 on 24 October 2022 and £150 on 25 November 2022. The Council issued Mr X with a second reminder for £251.81 on 2 December 2022.
17. Mr X called the Council on 8 December 2022. Mr X told an officer he would always be behind in his payments because he was paid at end of the month. Mr X said he had told the Council’s Customer Services this and been agreed he could do so. And he would be paying £150, although his bill was for £137, so he paid off some arrears. Mr X said he had asked the Council to change his payment date.
18. The officer explained Mr X could only change his payment date if he paid by direct debit, but he chose to pay another way. The officer confirmed the Council allocated the £150 payment from November to his arrears account because it was not recognised as a payment for the current year. The computer system assigned payments to older bills if payments are not made on the instalment date, so he had received a reminder for this year’s payments. The officer agreed to transfer £150 to Mr X’s account for 2022/23. Mr X said the DRO included his arrears so the Council should not be collecting payments towards those amounts. The officer suggested Mr X may want to change the amount in the DRO.
19. Mr X said the Council’s letters were affecting his mental health, he was paying £150 a month to clear off his arrears and told he would not receive any more notices. The officer told Mr X that if he wanted to pay his Council Tax at the end of the month then the payment would need to be an advanced payment for the forthcoming month. Otherwise, he would receive reminder letters and have recovery action taken.
20. The officer agreed to honour the payment arrangement (of paying his Council Tax at the end of the month) for this year’s account as that was what he had been told he could do. But to do this in 2023/24 he would need to pay in advance and clear this year’s balance by the end of March 2023. Mr X agreed he would set up a direct debit payment for the next Council Tax year as advised.
21. The officer agreed to put a stop on his account for 2022/23 so he would not receive any more letters and Mr X would then set up a direct debit. The officer told Mr X he needed to call the Council if his payments were different to the payment schedule. Mr X said he would continue to pay an amount each month. The officer agreed to note Mr X’s account in their diary, check his payments each month and transfer them if necessary to the correct account.
22. On 13 December 2022 the Council transferred the £150 payment to the charge for 2022/23 and reduced the overdue amount to £101.81. Mr X did not pay the amount within 7 days of the December reminder notice. So, after a further seven days the Council issued a summons on 5 January 2023 for the outstanding balance plus an amount outstanding for 2021/22.
23. Mr X called the Council on 9 January 2023. Mr X spoke to an officer about the summons and referred to his previous telephone calls. Mr X said the summons included the amount he owed for this year’s account and for 2021/22. But he had a DRO for 2021/22 so the Council should not be pursuing him for that.
24. Mr X explained again he could not pay until the end of each month when he was paid. Mr X confirmed an officer had noted this and told him he would not receive a summons for late payments. Mr X said the Council’s actions caused him distress and affected his mental health. The officer advised Mr X of the crisis support available if needed, discussed the account with Mr X and agreed to call back after checking the matter and listening to his previous telephone calls.
25. The officer spoke to Mr X again and emailed him to explain his account. The officer noted Mr X considered he did not have to pay Council Tax owed for 2021/22 due to the DRO. The Council had told him the balance owed in June 2021 when he made the application. But the DRO was not granted until February 2022, so he incurred further charges for summons and liability orders between June 21 and February 2022 as Mr X made no further payments. There were also changes to the benefit he was entitled to meaning an outstanding amount of £380.63 owed for 2021/22. The officer said Mr X may want to have the amount included in his DRO and should contact the DRO unit listed on his order.
26. The officer listened to the calls Mr X made in September and October 2022 as he alleged officers said he could continue making Council Tax payments at the end of the month with no action taken. The officer said on each occasion officers agreed to place a temporary hold on the account to prevent him getting a summons for that month due to his payment difficulties. But this did not extend beyond October 2022. Mr X had been advised to make his future payments on time and offered a direct debit for the 1st of the month which he did not accept.
27. The officer said Mr X had not made any further payments after November 2022, so been issued with a summons for non-payment. The amount included the balance for the year including £75 for the cost of the summons. The officer told Mr X if he did not make any payments and the Council gained a liability order, then the cost would rise further. The Council offered to make a payment arrangement with Mr X for the outstanding debt once it obtained the liability order.
28. Mr X remained unhappy with the Council’s response and actions and complained to us.

The Council’s response to the complaint

29. In responding to our notification about the complaint the Council reviewed the telephone calls between Mr X and officers. It found it had not recorded the call Mr X made on 8 December 2022 onto its Council Tax system. And the action agreed by the officer was not taken following the second reminder notice. The officer agreed to honour Mr X’s payment schedule (to pay at any point in the month), remove any summons or liabilities sent out and monitor the payments. Unfortunately, this was not done.
30. The Council has written to Mr X to explain. It acknowledged all customer contact should be recorded on to Mr X’s Council Tax account especially any special arrangements which are agreed and fall outside of its normal processes. The Council said it would arrange additional staff training to prevent this happening again.
31. The Council apologised to Mr X, cancelled the summons and liability order, and removed costs of £75, so he no longer needed to pay these. It has amended the special arrangement Mr X made because of the liability order and agreed to allow Mr X to pay the current year’s charge by June 2023. This means Mr X will be making double payments with the new Council Tax charge for 2023/24 starting in April 2023. Mr X will need to start a direct debit if he wishes to pay on 28th of each month.
32. The Council advised Mr X that failure to keep up the payments on the arrangement may result in it being cancelled and the balance becoming due in full.
33. The Council says it has not recently issued any documents about Mr X’s 2021/22 year’s charge. It is waiting for documents regarding Mr X’s DRO increasing to include the balance outstanding.

My assessment

34. Mr X complains he was given wrong information about his Council Tax payments. However, the calls made in September and October 2022 clearly show officers agreed to place a hold on Mr X’s account for only those months. This was because Mr X said he would be making a payment. Mr X was also advised about needing to set up a direct debit to pay at the end of the month. I have listened to the calls between Mr X and council officers, and I found no evidence officers gave incorrect information to Mr X or were rude to him in those calls. Officers in later calls acknowledged Mr X’s mental health concerns and advised him of crisis support available.
35. The Council accepts it did not record the call and outcomes of 8 December 2022 into the Council Tax system as it should have done. This is fault by the Council as it should ensure any calls and agreements are properly recorded. It meant officers Mr X spoke to later were unaware of the agreement and Mr X was issued with a summons for non-payment for December 2022.
36. The Council apologised to Mr X and removed the summons, liability order, and costs from his account for 2021/22. It agreed to a special arrangement with Mr X allowing him longer to pay his outstanding Council Tax for 2021/22. It again advised him to set up a direct debit so he can pay later in the month. The Council will ensure it carries out staff training to prevent such an issue happening again.
37. The Council explained to Mr X he had a remaining balance outstanding for 2021/22 as the DRO application took several months to be granted and so Mr X had ongoing liabilities during that time. The Council advised Mr X of action he could take to add the extra amount included in his DRO. The Council has taken no further action on Mr X’s 2021/22 account.
38. The Council’s investigation into Mr X’s concerns has been thorough, it has accepted its error and taken action. I consider the Council’s apology and actions to be suitable remedy in this case for any injustice caused to Mr X. This is because Mr X was aware he could pay his Council Tax once he was paid each month and he knew the amount he should be paying. Mr X has not been required to pay any extra costs. Mr X was also aware he still needed to pay any new debts occurring after gaining a DRO. I do not consider I can add anything to the Council’s investigation or achieve a different outcome for Mr X.

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Final decision

39. I am completing my investigation. There was fault by the Council as it failed to properly record the outcome of a telephone call onto its Council Tax system. The Council has offered a suitable remedy in this case.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman