The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: Mrs E complained about the Council’s enforcement of a council tax debt. She says the Council should not have applied to court to take possession of her property. We have discontinued our investigation into Mrs E’s complaint. Most of her complaint is late and her recent concerns involve matters that have been considered by the court or are inextricably linked to court action.
The complaint
Mrs E complained about the Council’s enforcement of a council tax debt. She says the Council should not have applied to court to take possession of her property. She adds it should have accepted a payment arrangement over 12 months and deducted the council tax from her wages.
Mrs E says the Council’s actions have had a devastating impact on her and her family.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended) 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) The courts have said that where someone has used their right of appeal, reference or review or remedy by way of proceedings in any court of law, the Ombudsman has no jurisdiction to investigate. This is the case even if the appeal did not or could not provide a complete remedy for all the injustice claimed. (R v The Commissioner for Local Administration ex parte PH (1999) EHCA Civ 916) We can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information from Mrs E and the Council.
Mrs E and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.
What I found
Council tax recovery The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 cover both the way councils collect payments of council tax and the way councils can recover council tax debt. The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 and associated regulations cover the way bailiffs may recover debts.
The council tax bill for the year is due on the 1st April. A council will usually collect payment through monthly instalments. If any instalment is missed the council will send the liable person 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).
To use the various powers available to it to recover unpaid council tax, a council has to apply to the Magistrates Court for a liability order against those it believes are liable. Once the court makes the liability order, the council may seek to recover the debt by using one of the recovery methods such as enforcement action, getting an attachment of earnings (by which deductions are taken directly from earnings by an employer and passed to the Council), charging orders or other methods. The council can decide which recovery method it wishes to use.
A charging order secures the debt against a person’s home or other property they own. Once a charging order is made, a creditor can usually apply to the court for another order to force the person to sell their home to release funds and pay the debt.
What happened Mrs E is in council tax arrears which have been accumulating for more than 10 years.
The Council applied to the Magistrates Court for a liability order. The Magistrates Court granted the liability order, which enabled the Council to recover the unpaid council tax.
The Council says it agreed various payment schedules with Mrs E, but she failed to stick them. Mrs E disagrees and says the Council would not accept her suggestion of paying £50 per week. The Council then applied to court to secure charging orders against Mrs E’s property. The court granted these orders.
The Council applied to court in 2017 for an order for sale because of the outstanding council tax arrears. An order for sale is granted by the court as a last resort and forces the sale of a property.
The court granted a suspended order for sale and a payment schedule was agreed.
The Council says Mrs E did not adhere to the payment schedule. Therefore, it applied to court for a warrant of possession in 2018 so it could take control of her property.
The Council decided to cancel Mrs E’s eviction from her property because of her personal circumstances. The court issued further warrants of possession in 2019 and 2020. The Council did not proceed with the evictions.
The Council sought possession of Mrs E’s property in July 2021. Mrs E applied to court to suspend her eviction, but the judge dismissed her application.
Mrs E appealed the judge’s ruling and asked for more time to come up with an arrangement. The judge dismissed her permission to appeal.
Mrs E complained to the Council in November 2021 about its enforcement action.
The Council had further discussions with Mrs E. It gave her possession of her property in December 2021, and she returned home.
The Council responded to Mrs E’s complaint. It said it took appropriate action following her failure to stick to the payment arrangements.
Mrs E remained dissatisfied with the Council’s response and referred her complaint to the Ombudsman.
Analysis The Ombudsman cannot investigate late complaints unless there are good reasons to do so. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. The events in Mrs E’s complaint start from 2008, but she did not refer her complaint to us until October 2021. I have seen no good reason why Mrs E could have not bought her complaint to the Ombudsman much sooner, and therefore I have not exercised discretion to investigate earlier events.
Mrs E says she wants the Ombudsman to look at more recent events, namely the Council seeking possession of her property in July 2021. She also says the Council should have considered her application for an attachment of earnings and accepted her payment arrangements rather than applying to court.
The Ombudsman has no power to investigate the commencement or conduct of civil proceedings before a court or law. The Council’s use of charging orders, an order for sale and possession orders are outside of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and have been considered in court. The other matters Mrs E has referred to, such as the payment arrangements are inextricably linked to the court proceedings, and it is information that would have been considered in court. Mrs E also used her legal appeal rights after the Council sought possession of her property.
Final decision
I have discontinued my investigation into Mrs E’s complaint. Most of the complaint is late, and there is no good reason Mrs E could not have bought the earlier events to the Ombudsman much sooner. Mrs E’s complaint about more recent events involve matters that have been considered by the court or are inextricably linked to court action.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman