The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax billing as any fault by the Council has not caused a significant injustice to the complainant.
The complaint
Mrs X complains about confusing council tax bills sent to her by the Council and about reference being made to her deceased husband. Mrs X says this has caused her upset and anxiety.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)).
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Background
In its complaint responses, the Council set out in detail the history of the billing period in question. It explained amendments had been made to the account when Mrs X’s son started living with her as, due to this, Mrs X lost her entitlement to single person council tax discount. It explained that further bills were generated when the Council re-applied a disabled band reduction to the account (that had not been re-applied when it had removed Mrs X’s entitlement to single person discount). The Council confirmed the account had been corrected and was up to date. It apologised for any distress caused by references made to Mrs X’s late husband in telephone conversations she had with the council tax department.
My assessment
The Council explained how and why the amendments took place and that the account was correct and up to date. I appreciate that Mrs X found it confusing when new bills were generated due to amendments to the account, but I do not consider this represents a level of injustice that would justify our further involvement. I also recognise that Mrs X was upset by references to her deceased husband, but the Council has apologised for any distress caused by this. Further investigation by us would not change the outcome of the complaint.
For these reasons, we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because any Council fault has not caused Mrs X a level of injustice that would warrant our further involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman