The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about extra costs added to Ms X’s council tax account. This is because the complaint is made late and there are not good reasons to investigate now.
The complaint
Ms X complains about extra costs added to her council tax account which have caused Ms X stress and hardship.
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/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X complains about extra costs the Council added to her council tax account due it taking enforcement action over arrears and passing the account to its enforcement agents, which it did in September 2020.
Ms X has known about this problem for more than one year and her complaint is therefore made late to us. It is reasonable to expect Ms X to have complained to us sooner and as such, I do not consider there are good reasons for us to investigate now.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is made late to us and there are not good reasons to investigate now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman