The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council charging Mr X for an enforcement agent visit which he disputes took place. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Mr X complained about being charged for a visit by enforcement agents in November 2021. He says that he does not believe the visit was made and he refuses to pay the charge.
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, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.
(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
Mr X received a charge of £235 on his council tax account following a claim that enforcement agents employed by the Council visited his home following the issue of a liability order from the Magistrates Court and an enforcement notice from the agents.
Mr X says he does not believe the visit took place and asked for evidence that the charge was justified. The Council sent him a GPS tracking record provided by the agents and a copy of a letter left at his address which Mr X denies receiving.
The Council says it is satisfied that the charge for the visit is valid and it requires Mr X to pay the outstanding balance.
Without credible evidence that the visit could not have take place we cannot resolve the dispute raised by the complainant. Not all complaints received by us are accepted for investigation. The legislation gives us discretion as to whether a complaint should be pursued and, in reaching that decision, a preliminary assessment is made. We have to take account of the degree of injustice sustained and whether there is any realistic chance of achieving a satisfactory outcome. In this case the latter is unlikely and we will not consider it further.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint about the Council charging Mr X for an enforcement agent visit which he disputes took place. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman