The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We have upheld, and will not investigate further, this complaint about council tax liability. This is because the Council has accepted fault and offered an appropriate remedy for the injustice. There are no wider public interest issues to justify investigating
The complaint
X complains on behalf of Y, a landlord. X complains the Council wrongly pursued Y for unpaid council tax and wrongly obtained a liability order. The Council admitted fault and offered a financial remedy to recognise the time and trouble spent by Y in dealing with the matter, but X says this remedy is not sufficient to recognise the stress the Council placed on Y. X wants the Council to offer a significantly higher remedy to Y and for service improvements.
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 or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by X.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Guidance on Remedies.
My assessment
X had said since 2024, they were trying to rectify what they said was a billing error. The Council has admitted that by March 2025, Y had provided enough evidence that they were not liable for the unpaid council tax. However, in July 2025 the Council obtained a liability order, which would have allowed it to take enforcement action to recover the unpaid council tax from Y. One week later, the Council recognised its errors and deleted the liability order from its records.
The Council has accepted fault, explained its actions and taken steps to rectify the fault, including its records. The Council offered a suitable remedy for the injustice caused. There are no wider public interest issues to justify investigating, so we will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
We uphold X and Y’s complaint because the Council has accepted fault and offered a suitable remedy for the identified injustice. There are no wider public interest issues to justify investigating.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman