The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council has charged council tax on a property that has been removed from council tax. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, complains the Council charged council tax for six years on a property that has been removed from council tax. Ms X complains the Council has not given her a council tax refund.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X paid council tax on a property whose council tax reference ends in 61. Ms X sent the Council a document from the Valuation Office which said that a property with a reference ending 60 is not registered for council tax. Ms X asked for a council tax refund and said her property had been removed from council tax.
The Council confirmed that property 60 was removed from council tax in 1998. It said Ms X was liable for council tax on property 61 from 1996 to 2018. It explained the property that has been removed from council tax is not the property that she is liable to pay council tax for.
I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The government website confirms that property 61 has been registered for council tax since 1998 and has not been deleted from council tax. In addition, the documents from the Valuation Office state it is property 60 that has been removed from council tax. The Council has correctly explained that the council tax deletion letter refers to a different property and not the one for which Ms X has paid council tax.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman