The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mr X’s council tax account as it has agreed to process Mr X’s complaint about this now.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council has not responded to several letters he sent to it asking for a refund of council tax after the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) deleted his property from the council tax list. Mr X says he has been financially disadvantaged by this.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
In June 2023, the VOA confirmed to Mr X that it had deleted his property from the council tax list effective from December 2022.
Mr X has provided us with copies of four letters he says he sent to the Council asking it to refund council tax he believes he has overpaid. Mr X says he has had no response.
While Mr X’s letters do not include the word ‘complaint’, the letters indicate an ongoing issue that had not been resolved and, in my view, ought to have been identified as a complaint by the Council.
When we asked the Council whether it had dealt with this matter as a complaint, it says it has no record of any such complaint. The Council said it will deal with it now.
I consider this is the best way forward as the Council is best placed to investigate the complaint and resolve it, should it identify Mr X is due a refund and/or it has acted with fault.
For these reasons we will not investigate at this time. It is open to Mr X to complain to us again if he remains dissatisfied once the Council has provided its complaint responses.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Council is to provide a response to it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman