The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Mrs X’s council tax bills. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
Mrs X complained about receiving bills for council tax dating back five years. She said paying these would cause financial difficulty.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and information available online about business rates and council tax for the relevant properties.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA), a central government agency independent of the Council, lists properties on which council tax is payable. The Council must follow the VOA’s list when billing for council tax.
Mrs X and her husband had paid council tax on their home. Some years ago they created a holiday cottage on their property and registered the holiday cottage for business rates and small business rates relief (SBRR). They have received an annual business rates account for the holiday cottage since then, though their bill has been zero due to getting full SBRR.
Around the same time, the VOA removed Mrs X’s home from the council tax list. The Council therefore wrote saying the council tax account had ceased. The Council stopped collecting the council tax direct debit. I understand Mrs X did not query this with the Council at the time. Five years later, the VOA reinstated Mrs X’s home on the council tax list and backdated that change by five years. The Council therefore sent council tax bills for five years’ unpaid council tax.
The Council must bill in accordance with the VOA’s list. So the Council had to stop billing when the VOA removed the property from the list and it had to resume billing – and bill from the effective date the VOA gave – when the VOA put the property back on the list. So there was no fault in the Council not billing for five years then billing for council tax for that period.
Mrs X reports she and her husband thought their council tax on their home had stopped as part of the business rates relief on the holiday property. However, there is no evidence to suggest the Council told them that. There is no connection between business rates (and any related rates relief) on one property and council tax on another property. Moreover, it is reasonable to expect every householder would know they have to pay council tax, to query the position if they stop receiving bills and to keep money aside to pay. Mrs X has not suggested she asked the Council why her council tax bills had stopped. So, while I realise Mrs X and her husband thought they owed no council tax, that resulted from their own mistaken belief, not from any fault by the Council.
The Council suggested an instalment arrangement for Mrs X to repay the arrears over slightly more than two years. Mrs X told me she might find that difficult. I have seen no evidence Mrs X has raised that with the Council or given the Council information about her income and expenditure as evidence of any financial difficulty that would result from following the Council’s instalment proposal. If Mrs X believes she cannot afford the Council’s proposed instalments, she can discuss that with the Council, provide evidence, and request a different instalment arrangement. If she were to be dissatisfied with the Council’s response, she could then complain through the Council’s complaint procedure and, after doing that, bring this matter to the Ombudsman. It is not appropriate for us to become involved in this point currently.
Mrs X suggested tome the VOA might have made a mistake in removing her home from the council tax list in the first place. I cannot consider that suggestion because we have no jurisdiction over the VOA.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman