The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax fees because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains about unfair charges added to his council tax. He says the Council is callous and money-grabbing. Mr X wants the Council to remove the charges which he says are extortionate.
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 Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code and invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.
My assessment
If someone has council tax arrears the Council can apply to the court for a liability order (a court order saying the person must pay the council tax). The Council can ask bailiffs to collect the arrears once a liability order has been issued. Bailiffs charge fees. The fees are set in the regulations. There is an initial fee of £75 which can be followed by a visit fee of £235.
The court issued a liability order because Mr X had council tax arrears. Mr X rang the Council and made an arrangement to pay the arrears of £825. One payment was due on 15 February and the other on 15 March.
Mr X did not make either payment so on 23 March the Council passed the debt to bailiffs. On 23 March the bailiffs sent a Notice of Enforcement. The Notice said Mr X must pay £900 by 1 April; this was the council tax plus the £75 fee.
On 31 March Mr X paid £825 to the Council. However, he still owed £75. Because Mr X had not paid £900 the bailiffs took further action. This led to a visit fee being added in July. Mr X owes £310 which he has not paid.
Mr X says he paid the council tax and the fees are excessive. Mr X wants the Council to remove the fees.
I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council was able to instruct bailiffs as soon as the court issued the liability order. It did not do this but gave Mr X a chance to pay without incurring further costs. Mr X did not pay as agreed so the Council passed the account to bailiffs. And, once it did this, Mr X correctly incurred a fee of £75, as stated on the Notice of Enforcement. Mr X paid £825 but he owed £900 so the bailiffs were entitled to take further action and charge an additional fee. The outstanding charge of £325 is correct and there is no reason to start an investigation.
Final decision
We will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman