The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council delayed issuing a council tax refund. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault and injustice.
The complaint
The complainant, Ms X, says the Council delayed issuing a council tax refund and used the money for a different account without telling her. Ms X wants to know how much she lost in interest and how much the Council gained.
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 an investigation if we decide: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and the refund policy. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X left a property in 2022 and the Council issued a closing bill showing there was a credit of £220; the Council sent the bill to the only address it had for Ms X at that time. A new occupier moved in.
In 2023 the new occupier moved out and Ms X was again made liable for the council tax. The Council issued a bill in November; Ms X was required to make payments in January and February.
Ms X did not make the payment due on 5 January but subsequently asked the Council to refund the £220. The Council transferred the £220 to the bill generated in November; this was because Ms X had not paid the January instalment. The Council sent an email in January notifying Ms X.
Ms X complained and asked the Council to explain why it had not sent her the refund. She wanted the Council to pay the refund direct to her and said the Council had held her money since 2022.
In response the Council explained that the policy says credits should be used to pay arrears on any linked account. It said it had notified Ms X of how it had used the credit and explained why it had not sent the refund to her.
Ms X says the Council benefited from her money from 2022. She says the Council took four months to respond to her complaint. Ms X wants to know how much interest she lost.
I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault and injustice. The Council sent Ms X a closing bill in 2022 which showed the credit; it may be that Ms X did not receive the bill as she had not, at that stage, given the Council her new address. However, the Council did notify Ms X of the credit and could only send the closing bill to her last known address.
I have read the Council’s refund policy which says the Council will not issue a refund if there are arrears on a linked account. Ms X had a linked account which was in arrears because she had missed the January instalment; this means the Council responded to the refund request in accordance with the policy. The Council also notified Ms X.
The Council’s complaint responses could possibly have been quicker but this has not caused an injustice requiring an investigation. In addition, the interest lost on £220 would be minimal and, in any case, there is nothing to suggest the delay in processing the credit was due to Council fault. If Ms X wants to know how much the Council gained by holding £220 she would need to ask the Council.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault and injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman