The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s calculation of her council tax bill and its recovery costs. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Miss X complained about the Council’s calculation of her council tax account. She says she is shown as owing arrears which she believes she has paid.
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 or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A (6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X says her council tax payments are not accurately reflected by the statement of her account. She wants to pay her tax daily but the Council’s payment system only records payments on a monthly basis. She believes the Council may be charging her for recovery costs which she has already paid to enforcement agents or which she believed had been removed by the Council.
The Council sent Miss X a statement of her account and explained why her daily payments may not always be up to date on a monthly statement. It advised her that the recovery costs were up to date and offered to arrange a face to face meeting to reconcile any payments she has made with its records.
It is not possible for us to check if all the daily payments Miss X has made are reflected on the statement she received which is based on a monthly system. She incurred court costs following the Council’s action to obtain a liability order in previous year’s accounts. These costs and any enforcement agents’ fees are recoverable.
When considering complaints, we may not question the merits of the decision the Council has made or offer any opinion on whether or not we agree with the judgment of the Councils’ officers or members. This means we will not intervene in disagreements about the merits of decisions
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint about Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s calculation of her council tax bill and its recovery costs. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman