The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot by law investigate this complaint about court and enforcement action taken by the Council in respect of alledged unpaid council tax. This is because the issues have been subject to legal proceedings in the magistrates’ court. We have no legal jurisdiction to investigate in such circumstances.
The complaint
The complainant (Mr P) complains about a liability order the Council obtained against him in court in respect of unpaid council tax. He says the Council failed to provide him with timely notices in respect of the council tax, as well as that payments he made were mishandled, with one being placed in a suspense account. He therefore disputes the court and enforcement action.
In summary, Mr P says the alledged fault resulted in unjustified legal proceedings and aggressive enforcement action being taken against him. It also meant he made payments to avoid escalatory action when he should not have needed to. As a desired outcome, Mr P wants the Council to reimburse him for the payments made and compensate him for the impact caused.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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).
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The issues raised by Mr P have in my view been subject to legal proceedings in the magistrates’ court which made a liability order in respect of the alledged unpaid council tax. While I recognise Mr P says the liability order should not have been made, this is an issue which should have been raised during the course of those proceedings. We have no legal jurisdiction to investigate an issue which has been determined by a court of law.
Final decision
We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because the restriction I outline at paragraph three (above) applies.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman