The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mr X’s council tax liability billing fault. This is because the Council has already provided a satisfactory remedy and there are no wider public interest issues that justify investigating.
The complaint
Mr X complained the Council incorrectly billed him for council tax from the wrong start date. Mr X said this caused him distress.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
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 and the Council were in contact relating to liability for a property he owned. During this contact, the Council accepted it had provided the Valuation Office Agency (VAO) with incorrect information about the effective liability date of that property. This led to Mr X being confused as to where information had originated from, thereby caused him avoidable inconvenience.
The Council explained this in its complaint response and has now taken corrective action. It updated the liability date with VOA and offered Mr X a symbolic remedy of £200 in recognition of the inconvenience it caused. As Mr X’s liability itself has not changed, only the administrative date, I consider the Council’s remedy proportionate to the impact of the error.
These actions amount to a satisfactory remedy. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Council has provided a satisfactory remedy and there are no wider public interest issues remaining that would justify investigating.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman