Ms A complained about the Council’s pursuit of a Council Tax bill relating to an estate which she was acting as executor for. She complained that the Council had failed to deal with her complaint appropriately.
The Ombudsman found that the Council had failed to provide Ms A with a response and some of the communication between Ms A and the Council was inappropriate in tone or content. This resulted in Ms A feeling that her complaint was not dealt with appropriately, which she said impacted her financially and affected her mental health.
The Ombudsman contacted the Council and in resolution of Ms A’s complaint it agreed that within 20 working days it would appoint a senior manager independent from the Council Tax department to investigate the complaint and that its response would set out what Ms A’s liabilities were, what the Council was pursuing and if errors were identified to consider whether financial reimbursement or redress was merited.
The Ombudsman considered this to be an appropriate resolution and did not investigate.