The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council did not respond to the complainant’s correspondence about council tax accounts. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, says the Council has not responded to emails and complaints he made in February and April. He says it has not responded to refund requests and made him falsely liable for the council tax on many accounts. He wants a refund and compensation.
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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X is a landlord of several properties. Landlords are responsible for the council tax for any period when a property is empty. Mr X contacted the Council in February and April to explain the Council had, at times, wrongly made him liable for council tax for some of the properties.
The Council responded in March and May. It asked for more information for some properties, updated some accounts, and issued a refund. It apologised for some delayed responses and, in both cases, invited Mr X to escalate his complaint to stage two. Mr X did not escalate either complaint and the Council says it is now too late to do so.
I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council did respond, albeit with some delays, and it invited Mr X to escalate his complaint if he remained dissatisfied with the replies. Mr X has raised several issues with us which he could have continued to pursue with the Council. Whilst there were some delays they do not warrant an investigation and, overall, there is not enough evidence of fault to require an investigation.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman