The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax recovery for a property. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant investigation. We cannot investigate court proceedings.
The complaint
Miss X complains the Council and its enforcement agent continued pursuing recovery of council tax for her property without establishing her liability or ensuring proper service of bills and notices.
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 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
Miss X complained to the Council regarding the matters in paragraph 1.
The Council replied that it had responded to Miss X’s email in December 2025. This response had provided information about the period of liability. It stated it sent further copies of bills to Miss X. It confirmed it had put a six week hold on recovery action.
The Council did not uphold Ms X’s complaint. It said that it was not obliged to hold recovery but had done so when it received her emails.
We will not investigate this complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify investigation. The Council responded to Miss X’s request for information and it held recovery for a period. Miss X says she did not receive the Council’s letters, but the Council has provided information that they were sent.
We cannot investigate the issue of the summons or the liability order hearing because these are court proceedings and we are not allowed by law to investigate these matters.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council. We cannot investigation court proceedings.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman