The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons for this.
The complaint
Ms X complains her council tax is in arrears but should be in credit. She wants the Council to review her account back to 2011 and refund her the credit. She says the Council should have awarded exemptions and discounts. She said she is disabled and vulnerable and this has caused her distress.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended).
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X complained to the Council in 2025 about arrears on her council tax account. But she believed she should be in credit and the Council should refund her. She asked the Council to review her account to 2011 and apply discounts and exemptions.
The Council replied its complaints policy did not allow investigation of complaints where the matters arose more than 12 months earlier. It had exercised discretion to respond about her account from 2021, but it said it would not review her account back to 2011, or look into requests for exemptions or discounts during the period. The Council provided information about the reason for Ms X’s arrears from 2021.
Ms X’s complaint is late, and we do not consider there are good reasons for this.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons why it is late.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman