The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr Z’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his council tax arrears. There is insufficient evidence of fault to justify investigation.
The complaint
Mr Z complains the Council instructed enforcement agents to resume enforcement action on his council tax arrears before his complaint about the matter concluded. He says this caused him undue stress and anxiety. He wants the Council to apologise, review its procedures, and remove any fees he incurred since enforcement action resumed.
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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
In his complaint to the Council, Mr Z said it had not given him the opportunity to settle his council tax before referring his arrears to enforcement agents. He asked the Council to cancel the resulting fees and let him settle his arrears directly instead of with the enforcement agents.
In its complaint response, the Council provided a timeline of its communications and actions relating to Mr Z’s council tax. This included when Mr Z made payments and when the Council issued reminders, a summons, and a Liability Order Notice to Mr Z. It outlined when it referred Mr Z’s arrears to enforcement agents.
The Council’s complaint response and email communications with Mr Z indicated the enforcement agents paused further action around a week after Mr Z complained to the Council. The Council said the pause would continue while it considered Mr Z’s complaint.
In its final response, the Council said it considered Mr Z’s request to pay his arrears directly to the Council but could not agree to this. It said this was because he had already had this opportunity but had not kept to previous payment arrangements. It explained enforcement action would therefore resume now it had concluded its investigation.
Mr Z said he then received a letter from the enforcement agents dated the day after the Council’s final response. This confirmed enforcement action had resumed and full payment was due 7 days later.
We will not investigate this complaint. The Council took steps to remind Mr Z about his council tax and arrange payment before referring his arrears to enforcement agents. Its decision to resume enforcement action after completing its investigation of Mr Z’s complaint was within its discretion and the enforcement agents’ letter provided appropriate notice of the payment due date. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s handling of this matter to justify investigation.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr Z’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman