Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to recover a Council Tax liability at court and its decision not to attend court. We cannot investigate complaints about the start of court action or what happened in court. Miss X has used her right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal Service.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about enforcement action the Council has taken to recover council tax arrears. That is because it is a late complaint.

Summary: We will not investigate Ms B’s complaint about a council tax discount. This is because it is reasonable for Ms B to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about court costs for council tax arrears. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s enforcement of council tax arrears. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s late complaint about council tax liability because he could have appealed to the Valuation Tribunal.

Summary: Mr X complains the Council obtained a council tax liability order without sending him a payment demand. The Ombudsman finds the Council followed the correct procedures for collection. It will apologise to Mr X for not spelling his name correctly on its online system. The Council has already agreed to cancel enforcement costs which is an adequate financial remedy to reflect the avoidable inconvenience.

Summary: Mr X complains about receiving a late council tax bill plus costs from the Council. We will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how much grant Mr X’s business received. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about housing benefit overpayments. That is because the Council has not yet made a final decision whether to recover the overpayments. Any future decision is appealable to Tribunal.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council charges full council tax despite the complainant being on a low income. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about business rates and council tax. This is because it is reasonable to expect Mr Y to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal.

Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s threat of enforcement action against him for no payment of council tax. We will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council refusing to waive council tax on a damaged empty property. It would be reasonable for the complainant to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. The complaint is also late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion and investigate.

Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s decision to seek repayment of COVID-19 business grants and that this will cause him financial difficulties. The Council wrongly awarded the grants which was fault. There is no evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to recover the grants after it realised it had paid them in error.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the decision to end the complainant’s council tax support. This is because the complainant has appealed to the Valuation Tribunal. The complaint is therefore outside our jurisdiction with no discretion to investigate.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about housing benefit overpayment where the complainant was notified in 2018.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council wrongly stopped taking his council tax payments in 2021 causing arrears. The Council has resolved the complaint appropriately by explaining what went wrong, apologising for its error, and offering to spread the arrears over this financial year.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to exempt the complainant from paying Council Tax. This is because it is not unreasonable to expect the complainant to have used his right of appeal against the Council’s decision.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council did not grant a longer period of council tax exemption or discretionary relief following the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown. We cannot lawfully question the Council’s exemption policy. There was a right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal which it was reasonable to use on the refusal of relief.

Summary: Ms C complained about the Council’s response when she requested a discretionary council tax reduction. We found some fault with the way the Council handled her request. We also found fault with the Council for a delay making reasonable adjustments for Ms C. The Council agreed actions to remedy the injustice to Ms C.