The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Mr X’s council tax bill. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault or significant enough injustice to warrant investigation.
The complaint
Mr X complains that the Council did not appropriately communicate his council tax bill to him. He states it should have provided a welcome pack and spoken to him to discuss payment arrangements and discounts.
Mr X states he is disappointed with how the Council treats its residents.
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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or 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 and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X says that when he moved into his new property, the Council issued him a council tax bill without first contacting him. He also complains the Council did not provide a welcome pack with information about its services.
The Council says it does not have the resources to call each resident. It includes all relevant information on the council tax bill and has a team available to answer calls. Mr X received the bill, which contained the information, and he called the team to discuss it.
Mr X may prefer the Council to issue information differently. However, there is no evidence of fault in the way Council did act. There is no requirement for it to issue welcome packs.
Mr X says the Council asked him to pay the remaining bill in one instalment rather than in monthly instalments. He says the Council did not consider his eligibility for discounts. Once Mr X told the Council he was the sole occupant, it amended the bill and explained his payment options.
There is no fault in the Council sending the bill first. Councils are not required to contact people about council tax payment or eligibility for discounts before sending a bill. There is no fault in the Council expecting a resident to contact the Council if they want a different payment arrangement or believe they qualify for a reduction.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council acted, nor significant enough injustice to Mr X to warrant investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman