on the lessons that can be learnt from our complaints about end of life care given in care homes and in the home.
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax Decision : Closed after initial enquiries Decision date : 13 Apr 2026 The complaint
My assessment
F inal decision
The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council tax because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
Mr X complains that the Council misled him about his Council tax liability.
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, or any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X says that he received a Council tax bill indicating nothing to be paid in August 2025 as the property was unoccupied and unfurnished. He later received a Council tax bill in November.
The Council says that the initial bill represented a three-month exemption for such properties. A new bill was issued when the three-month period ran out.
Whilst I appreciate that Mr X was confused by the initial bill, I do not consider that the Council’s issuance of a second bill when the exemption ended was fault.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman