The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax recovery action. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant investigation.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council did not send him notices by email about council tax for a property he vacated in 2024. The Council obtained a liability order and took recovery action adding fees. Mr X said he had paid the last bill he received and did not know further council tax was due. He said he had signed up for ebilling.
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)).
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 Council regarding the matters in paragraph 1.
The Council replied that Mr X did not provide his forwarding address when he moved. It also said it sent a bill by email in October 2024 as his landlord had provided his email address. Mr X agreed he had received but overlooked this email. As Mr X did not pay the Council escalated recovery and fees were added including summons and enforcement agent fees. The Council confirmed that notices such as reminders, final notices and summons are sent by post. The Council did not accept that it was at fault or that it should remove the recovery costs.
We will not investigate this complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant investigation. The Council has explained it had sent Mr X notices to his last known address as he did not provide a forwarding address. Mr X did receive a bill by email but did not read it.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman