The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the administration of a council tax account as the complainant is not caused a level of injustice to justify our further involvement.
The complaint
Miss X complains about problems she experienced getting the Council to close her council tax account when she sold the property. Miss X had to complain before the account was closed. Miss X remains unhappy about how she was treated.
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 or continue an investigation if we decide 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 the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
I recognise Miss X remains unhappy about what happened but from our perspective, the injustice she describes is not at a level that would justify our further involvement. We have limited resources and must direct them to the most serious cases. For this reason, we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the injustice in her case is not sufficient to warrant our further involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman