The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council issuing liability orders for council tax in 2017 and pursuing them in 2025. We have no jurisdiction to investigate matters which have been subject to court proceedings.
The complaint
Mr X complained about the Council issuing liability orders for the periods 2015-16 and 2017-18. He believes the orders are unlawful and that he was unaware of the court hearing which confirmed the orders. The Council has decided to write off the arrears but he wants it also to cancel the liability orders.
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) 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 has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council’s response.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X says the Council obtained liability orders for unpaid council tax against him in 2017 when he was going through divorce proceedings. He says he was unaware of the Council’s court action and that he had obtained a decree absolute in 2016, not 2017 as had been erroneously recorded by a judge. He wants the Council to revoke the orders which could affect his credit rating.
The Council says the liability orders are for a period from 2015 onwards and that he is jointly and severally liable for the debts. It says it issued the summons and orders in 2017 when it considered him still to be resident in the property which is liable. It has no reason to believe the procedure for the orders was flawed and they are in force for an indefinite period if issued within 6 years of the debt being created..
However, the Council decided that the debts are from more than 6 years ago and the enforcement agents considered them to be unrecoverable. The Council could still pursue the orders by other forms of recovery but it told Mr X in 2025 that it was going to write off the debt given the amount of time which has passed since the orders were obtained and he had been contacted.
Mr X is questioning the liability order procedure and how they were issued in his absence. We have no jurisdiction to question what happened in a court and are statute-barred from investigating from the time the summons was issued. There is no requirement for the Council to revoke the orders but as the debt is cancelled it cannot be recovered. Council tax liability orders are not registered with credit agencies and do not affect an individual’s credit rating as a county Court order may do.
Final decision
We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council issuing liability orders for council tax in 2017 and pursuing them in 2025. We have no jurisdiction to investigate matters which have been subject to court proceedings
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman