London Borough of Lambeth (24 017 880)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 12 Feb 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Council tax refund because there is insufficient injustice to warrant investigation.
The complaint
- Mr X complains that the Council is acting unreasonably in their refusal to issue him a cheque for a refund of Council tax.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 or continue 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
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X says that he was told there was a Council tax refund due to him in June 2024 of £69. He asked for a cheque to be paid to him. The Council says that they cannot make such payment by cheque but could send it by BACS to his account. Mr X refused to provide bank details.
- Mr X could either provide the details, or those of a trusted friend or allow the payment to remain on the account (as further Council tax bills will arise).
- Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
- I am not persuaded that there is sufficient injustice from the Council’s actions to warrant investigation.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient injustice caused by the alleged fault to warrant investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman