Summary: Mr X complained the bailiffs acting on behalf of the Council made an unnecessary visiting incurring extra fees and failed to properly respond during telephone conversations when he explained his vulnerabilities. Mr X says he experienced depression, anxiety and felt suicidal as a result. While there was no fault in respect of the bailiff visit, there was fault in the failure to record a new agreement resulting in a letter being wrongly sent. To remedy the complaint, the bailiff charges will be refunded.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the bailiffs acting on behalf of the Council made an unnecessary visiting incurring extra fees and failed to properly respond during telephone conversations when he explained his vulnerabilities.
2. Mr X says he experienced depression, anxiety and felt suicidal as a result of the bailiff action.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
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. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided;
• discussed the issues with the complainant;
• sent my draft decision to both the Council and the complainant and taken account of their comments in reaching my final decision.

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What I found

Council tax - recovery summary

6. There are laws and regulations that control how councils collect council tax payments and how they can make people pay council tax they owe. (Council Tax [Administration and Enforcement] Regulations 1992)
7. Laws and regulations also control how enforcement agents can collect money owed to the council. (The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007)
8. The council tax bill for the year is due on 1 April. A council will usually collect this through monthly instalments. If a person who has to pay council tax misses any instalment, the council will send them a reminder. If they still do not pay, or miss another payment, then they must pay all they owe (that is the full amount for the rest of the year).
9. Councils who want to recover unpaid council tax have to ask the magistrate’s court for a liability order against people it thinks owe it the money. Once a council has a liability order it can take action to recover the money and any court costs owed.
10. Most often councils take what is owed directly from the person’s benefits, from their wages (called getting an attachment of earnings order) or using enforcement agents. The council can decide how to recover what is owed but it can only use one method for one liability order at one time.

Council tax – discretion to write off or make discretionary payment

11. In exceptional circumstances, the law says councils can decide not to collect some or all of a council tax debt. (S13A(1)(c) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (as amended))

Enforcement agents – fees

12. Regulations set out how much an enforcement agent can charge when recovering debt and the stages they must follow.

• The Compliance Stage – an enforcement agent must issue a notice of enforcement. The fee for this stage is £75.
• The Enforcement Stage – this stage starts once an enforcement agent has made a first visit. This must be at least seven days after sending the notice of enforcement. At this visit the agent can take control of goods. The fee for this stage is £235. If the outstanding debts are more than £1,500, the agent can charge a further 7.5% of the amount outstanding over £1,500.

Key facts

13. This section sets out the key events in this case and is not intended to be a detailed chronology.
14. Mr X was in arrears with his council tax. Mr X says this happened due to his business failing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Council followed the correct recovery process resulting in a court summons for £712.74 in March 2023.
15. The Council passed the case to the bailiff company on 16 May 2023. On the same day the bailiff company issued a Notice of Enforcement to Mr X. Mr X must have received this notice because he telephoned the bailiff company on 14 June to discuss the situation. A payment arrangement of £100 per month from 1 July was agreed.
16. Mr X made the agreed payments on 4 July and 3 August but did not make the next payment until 22 September. Mr X sent the October payment on 18 October.
17. The bailiff company believes the payments were all made late. It states they were due on the first day of each month. When the November payment was not received as scheduled, a bailiff visited Mr X’s property.
18. The bailiff company says Mr X spoke to the bailiff through a window. He advised he was unemployed and that the situation was driving him to suicide. The bailiff noted that Mr X’s behaviour seemed erratic. The bailiff agreed to amend the arrangement to £50 per month from 1 December. The bailiff company reported concerns for Mr X’s welfare to the Council which confirmed it would pass the safeguarding concerns to a supervisor.
19. Mr X paid £100 on 18 December. He also called the bailiff company the same day. The notes say Mr X said he had mental health issues and that he had tried to talk to the Council but it had not helped. The call was escalated to a manager. Mr X said the bailiff who attended his property was nice but his uniform was intimidating. Mr X said he didn’t know he had to make payments on a specific date and thought it would be okay if he made “regular-ish” payments. Mr X said he would make a complaint and that he was not prepared to pay the £235 charge as a result of the visit in November.
20. I have listened to the telephone call between Mr X and the bailiff company. During the call the bailiff company told Mr X that as a result of paying £100 that day, his January payment was covered and his next payment would be due on 1 February. He said the arrangement would be re-set to reflect this. However, the bailiff company failed to take this action.
21. On 4 January Mr X called the bailiff company after receiving a letter. At Mr X’s request the call was transferred to a manager. Mr X asked why he had been sent a letter when he had been told he didn’t need to make another payment until February. The bailiff company said Mr X had missed a payment and so was in default. Mr X again talked about suicide and mental health issues. After the call the bailiff company again contacted the Council to express concerns about his welfare. The Council then recalled the case from the bailiff company.
22. On 11 January the bailiff company responded to Mr X’s complaint. It apologised saying it failed to reset the arrangement after the visit in November. The arrangement made in November was due to commence on 1 December and so Mr X was not in default in January and the bailiff company should not have sent a letter. In a further complaint response, the bailiff company offered Mr X a payment of £235.
23. The Council granted a discretionary payment for the monies that remained outstanding for 2022 and 2023, a total of £773.57. In response to my enquiries, the bailiff company indicated it was re-offering to refund the £235 enforcement fee as well as a refund of the £75 compliance fee.

Analysis

24. The information provided indicates recovery action was taken as a result of Mr X having council tax arrears. I am satisfied the Council followed the correct statutory process regarding the arrears before passing the case to the bailiff company to take enforcement action.
25. Mr X entered into a payment arrangement with the bailiff company but did not make the payments on the specified date. This resulted in a bailiff visiting Mr X’s home. There is nothing to suggest the Council or bailiff company were aware of Mr X’s vulnerabilities prior to the visit. I note Mr X felt this was unnecessary and he was distressed this resulted in a further charge of £235 being added to his account. However, the bailiff agreed to amend Mr X’s agreement during this visit and reduced the payments. I am satisfied the bailiff company was entitled to visit Mr X and that the charge for the visit was correctly applied to his account.
26. Following this visit, the bailiff company failed to reset the arrangement on its system and this resulted in it wrongly contacting Mr X in January saying he had missed a payment. During a telephone conversation on 18 December the bailiff company had confirmed to Mr X his next payment was due on 1 February. The action taken in January by the bailiff company is fault and I consider it caused Mr X avoidable distress. Mr X had previously explained his vulnerabilities including mental health issues and the bailiff company had correctly reported this to the Council.
27. As I have identified fault, I have considered what remedy should be provided. The Council has made a discretionary payment and cancelled the outstanding balance on Mr X’s council tax for 2022 and 2023. The bailiff company has now offered to cancel the charges of £75 and £235 from Mr X’s account. While I am satisfied both charges were correctly applied in this case, I welcome the action taken by both the Council and the bailiff company to provide a suitable remedy for a vulnerable person. I consider these actions appropriately remedy any injustice caused to Mr X and so I am not making any further recommendations.

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Agreed action

28. To remedy the injustice caused to Mr X as a result of the fault identified in this case the Council will, within one month of my final decision, ensure the enforcement costs of £310 are refunded to Mr X’s account and notify him of this action.

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Final decision

29. I have completed my investigation with a finding of fault for the reasons explained in this statement. The Council has agreed to implement the actions I have recommended. These appropriately remedy any injustice caused by fault.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman