Summary: Miss N, complains the Council did not respond to her application for an exemption to her council tax, so leading to the avoidable distress of a bailiff’s visit. When it did respond, it did not advise her of her right to appeal the Council’s new decision. Our decision is there was fault by the Council. The Council has agreed to our recommendations.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss N, complains:
• the Council did not respond to her application for an exemption to her council tax, so leading to the avoidable distress of a bailiff’s visit; and
• even after the Council did respond, it still did not advise her of her right to appeal the Council’s new decision.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
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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What I have and have not investigated

5. I have not investigated whether the Council’s council tax exemptions decisions were correct. The Valuation Tribunal is a tribunal that can consider a dispute about any calculation by a council of how much council tax someone should pay. Therefore the restriction described in paragraph 3 applies.
6. The Valuation Tribunal has the expertise to consider the various decisions about council tax entitlement. It also has the power to say how much council tax Miss N owes. The Ombudsman can only make recommendations. For these reasons, I consider it reasonable to expect Miss N to use her right to appeal to resolve any remaining dispute she may have about how much council tax she should pay.
7. There have been issues with the Council not advising Miss N of her right of appeal and this is what I have investigated.

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How I considered this complaint

8. In investigating this complaint I have considered Miss N’s complaint to the Council and the Council’s response to our enquiries. I sent my draft decision to Miss N and the Council and considered the responses I received.

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What I found

Legal and administrative background

Council tax recovery

9. If a person does not pay their council tax bill when due, a council will issue a reminder. A council must issue at least one reminder before issuing a summons for a liability order hearing at the magistrates’ court.

Discounts and exemptions

10. The Local Government Finance Act 1992 sets out several discounts and exemptions, based on the state of the property and the number or type of occupants. Some are mandatory and others discretionary. Within their council tax scheme, each council has its own set discounts and exemptions.

Discretionary council tax relief

11. In addition to their discounts and exemptions, councils have discretion to apply a discount to reduce a person’s council tax liability to any extent they see fit. The power to do this is under section 13A(1)(c) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.
12. The Council has a policy for discretionary relief. It sets out when it will consider relief, in unforeseen or exceptional circumstances, where there is evidence of “extreme financial hardship”.
13. A council’s decision on the application of any discount, exemption or relief is appealable to the Valuation Tribunal.

Vulnerability

14. The Council has, within its debt recovery policy, provision for how it will work with vulnerable debtors. It:
• has a non-exhaustive list of circumstances and characteristics that might make a person vulnerable;
• says it would be vigilant for the signs and symptoms of vulnerability;
• says, where a person is, or might be, vulnerable the Council would consider a number or options. These include postponing recovery action and providing a payment arrangement;
• notes that being vulnerable does not exempt a person from having to pay their council tax.

What happened

15. Miss N signed a tenancy agreement but, shortly after doing so, changed her mind and did not move into a property. The landlord notified the Council that, as a consequence, Miss N had been responsible for the tenancy at the property for just over a month. The Council issued Miss N a bill for the property.
16. Around a month after receiving the bill, Miss N applied for an exemption. The Council has a copy of that application form on file. It says it changed the status of Miss N’s council tax account (although this change did not change the amount she owed). But it did not write to Miss N about her application. It says it has no explanation of why it did not do this.
17. A few months later, the Council started enforcement action for the unpaid council tax debt – culminating in a liability order from the magistrates court. The day after the court granted the liability order, the Council passed the debt to its enforcement agents (also known as bailiffs).
18. The enforcement agents contacted Miss N about the debt. Miss N complained. She noted she had never heard back from the Council about her application for an exemption. She also said she was vulnerable.
19. Around a week later, the Council messaged Miss N. It apologised it had not explained to her why its decision was she would not qualify for the exemption she had claimed. It explained then why she would not qualify for the exemption. As a remedy it said it would withdraw the debt from its enforcement agents, remove the liability order and associated costs and send her a revised bill. It advised her to contact the relevant team to make a repayment arrangement for the debt. The Council’s contact did not advise her of her right of appeal of its decision, or the existence of the Council’s discretionary relief scheme.
20. Miss N did not contact the Council, so around a month later, the Council issued a final notice on the revised council tax bill resulting in a further liability order.
21. Shortly after receiving the Council’s response, Miss N contacted the Ombudsman. As the Council had had the opportunity to consider the matter, we accepted the complaint. We made enquiries. In response the Council advised that it:
• was only when the Ombudsman contacted it that it was aware of Miss N’s potential vulnerability. And while it would work with any customers who are vulnerable, it is not a ground for non-payment of council tax;
• accepted it should have made Miss N aware of her appeal rights. But it said it did not see how an application to a Valuation Tribunal would change matters, as it had correctly applied its own exemption scheme;
• advised that, after Miss N’s complaint, it withdrew the account from its enforcement agents before they had visited Miss N;
• offered again the remedy it had previously offered to Miss N (see paragraph 19).

Was there fault by the Council?

22. Miss N applied to the Council for an exemption. The Council did not write to her with its decision on that application and did not advise her of her right to appeal that decision. My decision is that was fault.
23. When the Council became aware of this fault it contacted Miss N. It explained why she would not qualify for the exemption. It also withdrew the enforcement action and charges it had made. Those were appropriate remedies.
24. But my decision is there was further fault with this contact, because the Council did not then:
• alert Miss N to her right to appeal the decision;
• acknowledge and explore with Miss N that, in her complaint, she had said she was “classed as vulnerable” – the Council’s response to my enquiries wrongly says Miss N had not raised this before our contact;
• suggest she could apply for a discretionary relief. The Ombudsman’s view is that, if a council has received a request from someone to pay less council tax and responds refusing the request, it should advise that they could make an application for a discretionary discount. And, as here, to not do that would be fault.

Did the fault cause an injustice?

25. In its response to Miss N’s complaint, the Council proposed remedies that largely addressed any injustice caused by not notifying her of its decision on her application. It is also likely to be the sort of response the Council would have made if it had then noted and responded to Miss N’s reported vulnerability.
26. Miss N says she had the injustice of a visit from the Council’s enforcement agents. The Council says during the time this complaint considers, its agents did not visit Miss N. So my decision is any visit Miss N received was not linked to the fault I have identified.
27. But the lack of advising Miss N of her rights of appeal or the Council’s discretionary scheme are faults that remain unremedied.

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Agreed action

28. To remedy the injustice set out above I recommended that, within a month of my final decision the Council:
• invite Miss N to apply for discretionary relief. It should make clear any evidence she should provide to support an application and inform her of the criteria against which it will consider her application. The Council’s decision on that application is appealable, so remedying the ongoing injustice from the fault I have identified; and
• provide training or guidance to relevant officers to ensure it informs customers of any opportunities to appeal decisions or apply for discretionary relief.
29. The Council has agreed to my recommendations. It should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

30. I uphold the complaint. As the Council has agreed to my recommendations, I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman