Summary: Mrs X complained the Council took legal action regarding unpaid council tax without allowing for the postal system to deliver notification of proceedings. Mrs X also complained the Council failed to deal with the matter when she tried to resolve the issue. She says the Council’s actions caused avoidable stress and led to additional costs. The Council is not at fault regarding its notification to Mrs X. However, we found service failure regarding the Council’s subsequent communication. The Council has agreed to provide a financial remedy and make service improvements.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council took legal action regarding unpaid council tax without allowing for the postal system to deliver notification of proceedings. Mrs X also complained the Council failed to deal with the matter when she tried to resolve the issue. She says the Council’s actions caused avoidable stress and led to additional costs. Mrs X would like the Council to refund the legal costs, amend its procedures to allow for postal deliveries and ensure its systems function correctly.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. Service failure can happen when an organisation fails to provide a service as it should have done because of circumstances outside its control. We do not need to show any blame, intent, flawed policy or process, or bad faith by an organisation to say service failure (fault) has occurred. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1), as amended)
3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, 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. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Council tax

7. The council tax bill for the year is due on 1 April. A council will usually collect payment through monthly instalments. If the liable person misses any instalment, the council will send them a reminder. If a payment is still not made or a further payment missed, then the entire outstanding balance will be due (that is the full amount for the rest of the year).
8. The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 (referred to as the Regulations in this decision statement) covers the way councils collect payments of council tax and the way councils can recover council tax debt.
9. For a document to be effective it must be served on a person. Summonses are served under the Regulations. All other documents are served under the Local Government Act 1972 (Section 233). Both say the document may be served on a person by delivering it to them in person, leaving it at their proper address or sending it by post to their proper address. ‘Proper address’ is taken to be the last known address of the person. Councils do not need to use registered or recorded post.
10. A document is deemed to have been served by post when it would be delivered in the ordinary course of post under Section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978. The date of service is taken to be, (subject to proof to the contrary), that delivery in the ordinary course of post was effected:
1. In the case of first class mail, on the second working day after posting
2. In the course of second class mail, on the fourth working day after posting.

Working days are Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays.

11. 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.

What happened

12. This chronology includes key events in this case and does not cover everything that happened.
13. The Council issued a council tax bill to Mrs X in December 2023 for a property she owns, Property A. The council tax charge covered the period November 2023 to 31 March 2024, (council tax year 2023/2024).
14. In mid-January 2024, the Council issued a reminder for unpaid council tax to Mrs X. At about the same time, Mrs X made a council tax payment.
15. In mid-February 2024, the Council issued a further reminder for unpaid council tax. Mrs X made a council tax payment in early March 2024.
16. On 11 March 2024, the Council issued Mrs X with a council tax bill for Property A for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, (council tax year 2024/2025).
17. In mid-March 2024, the Council issued a final notice for unpaid council tax for the council tax year 2023/2024.
18. In early April 2024, the Council issued a summons for unpaid council tax to Mrs X for the council tax year 2023/2024. At about the same time, Mrs X made a council tax payment.
19. In mid-April 2024, the Council issued a reminder for unpaid council tax to Mrs X for the council tax year 2024/2025. Mrs X made a council tax payment in early May 2024.
20. In May 2024, the Council issued a summons for the full amount of council tax for Property A for the council tax year 2024/2025.

What happened next

21. On 10 June 2024, Mrs X emailed the Council. She said she had received a summons for non-payment of council tax on that day, but the court hearing date was 30 May 2024. Mrs X asked the Council for an explanation regarding the council tax charges in respect of Property A. She said the property was empty, but new tenants were due to move in from mid-June 2024. Mrs X said she had made council tax payments in respect of Property A and had mistakenly believed these were sufficient. Mrs X said she was trying to call the Council to sort the matter out, but her call was placed on hold. Mrs X asked the Council to clarify how much she needed to pay to settle the outstanding amount.
22. Mrs X emailed the Council again later the same day. She said she had waited for over 20 minutes on the telephone to then be advised the Council’s system was down and the agent was unable to assist. Mrs X asked the Council to pause any additional charges due to the system issues it was experiencing.
23. On 13 June 2024, Mrs X complained to the Council. She said she had received, via her letting agent, a demand for payment of unpaid council tax and a notification of a court date. Mrs X said she received the notification on 10 June 2024, but the hearing was set for 30 May 2024. As a result, Mrs X said she had not had the opportunity to deal with the matter before the court date. Mrs X said she had called the Council’s helpline on three separate occasions, but it placed her calls on hold for about 20 minutes before advising her its system was down, and it could not assist. Mrs X asked the Council to cancel the summons and for someone to call her back to answer her queries.
24. Mrs X emailed the Council again on 17 June 2024. She said she had received that day, an email from her letting agent telling her they had received a notice of a liability order. Mrs X said the notice was dated 4 June 2024 and provided a response time of 14 days. Mrs X said she therefore had only one remaining day to respond to the liability order, or she would face further charges. Mrs X said the new tenants had moved into Property A and they were now liable for council tax. She asked the Council for urgent assistance as she had emailed, called and complained but was still unable to resolve the matter.
25. The Council provided its stage one complaint response on 26 June 2024. It apologised for the inconvenience and frustration caused by the unavailability of its system, resulting in its inability to resolve Mrs X’s query at the time. The Council said its Resources department was unaware of the system issues until it received Mrs X’s complaint. The Council said its telephone team was unable to access its main system for the period 10 June 2024 to 18 June 2024; it said the system issue was now resolved. The Council said the telephone team’s computer system was different to the one used by the Resources department.
26. The Council said Mrs X had not made payment on the first of each month every month. The Council said it had therefore correctly issued a reminder, summons and liability order, followed by a 14-day notice on 4 June 2024. The Council said it sent all correspondence to Mrs X’s letting agent’s address. It confirmed it had closed Mrs X’s council tax account for Property A due to the new tenants moving in, and said it partially upheld Mrs X’s complaint.
27. Mrs X escalated her complaint to the next stage of the Council’s complaints procedure.
28. The Council provided its final complaint response on 1 October 2024 and referred to its previous apology regarding the issues with its telephone team’s system. The Council clarified that the court action taken had no impact on Mrs X’s credit reference or credit score. The Council said it would not refund the court costs as they were incurred correctly. It said Mrs X had not made sufficient payment to her council tax account. The Council said it issued all documents to the last known address for Mrs X, and it considered them to be legally served, even if Mrs X did not personally receive them. The Council acknowledged it was experiencing significantly high call volumes which impacted its ability to respond as promptly as it would like. It partially upheld Mrs X’s complaint and apologised again for the inconvenience caused.
29. Mrs X remained dissatisfied with the Council’s response and brought the complaint to us.

Analysis

30. The Council issued its correspondence to Mrs X’s ‘proper address’. This was a ‘care of’ address, (Mrs X’s letting agent) and was addressed to Mrs X. This ‘care of’ address was the last known address held by the Council for her and was therefore Mrs X’s ‘proper address’.
31. I acknowledge Mrs X says she did not receive the notification of a court date until after the date of the court hearing. I also acknowledge Mrs X says the Council did not allow for unreliable Royal Mail deliveries. However, councils do not need to use registered or recorded post. As previously stated, unless the contrary is proved, a document is deemed to have been served by post when it would be delivered in the ordinary course of post under Section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978. I have seen no evidence to suggest the correspondence was not sent, and whilst I acknowledge Mrs X’s comments, the Council served the documents by post correctly. As a result, the Council is not at fault regarding this aspect of the complaint.
32. However, the Council is at fault regarding its handling of Mrs X’s subsequent queries.
33. The Council acknowledged in its complaint response that its telephone team was unable to access its system between 10 June 2024 and 18 June 2024. This, and the Council’s inability to assist Mrs X regarding her queries during this period (because of its system issues), is service failure. The resulting injustice to Mrs X is avoidable distress, frustration and uncertainty.
34. The evidence shows the Council had already issued the court summons and liability order prior to Mrs X’s contact on 10 June 2024. As a result, the telephone team’s failure to access its system for the period stated did not affect the Council’s issuance of its council tax documentation or the charges already incurred.
35. I acknowledge the Council has already apologised to Mrs X for the service failure identified. However, this does not fully address the injustice to Mrs X.

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Action

36. To address the injustice identified, the Council has agreed to take the following action within one month of the final decision:
1. Make a symbolic payment of £100 to Mrs X in recognition of the distress, frustration and uncertainty caused,
2. Remind the telephone team to inform other relevant teams, including the Resources team and the Digital team, as soon as possible if it experiences further similar problems in accessing its systems.
37. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

38. I have found fault as a result of service failure regarding the Council’s communication with Mrs X. The Council has agreed to take the above action to remedy the injustice identified and I have therefore concluded my investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman