The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax summons cost. This is because the complaint is late and there is no good reason why Mr X could not have complained earlier.
The complaint
Mr X complained the Council added a summons charge of £80 to his council tax account in 2023 without telling him. He says this caused confusion and the Council should refund the money.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended).
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
Mr X complained to the Ombudsman in July 2025 that the Council had changed the due date for payments in April 2023 and then added a summons charge of £80 to his account without telling him. He paid the council tax in full but said the Council should refund the £80 charge and apologise as well improving its service.
Mr X’s complaint is late because he complained about the matter more than 12 months after he became aware of it. I do not consider there are good reasons why the complaint is late. We cannot investigate the issue of the summons because it is the start of court proceedings which is out of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late and there is no evidence to suggest why he could not complain earlier. We cannot investigate the start of court action.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman