Local Authority Ordered to Apologize to Resident Over £1,000 Tax Debt

An oversight body has directed a local authority to issue an apology to a woman who accumulated £1,000 in outstanding tax payments. The Local Government Ombudsman confirmed a grievance lodged against Cumberland Council, citing its failure to collect council tax payments via the direct debit arrangement established by the woman. Cumberland Council informed the Ombudsman that the resident’s required payment amount fluctuated because of changes in her benefit entitlement, which prevented the council from adjusting the direct debit promptly. The local authority stated its intention to revise its procedures to prevent similar occurrences in the future. According to documents released by the Ombudsman, the resident, identified as Miss D, was eligible for a reduction in council tax due to her Universal Credit status. Nevertheless, as her benefit entitlement underwent multiple changes, the corresponding amount she was required to pay for council tax also varied. The council had dispatched updated bills to her via email, but Miss D did not view them because they were directed to her junk email folder. Miss D also asserted that the correspondence did not indicate she was accumulating debt, a point on which the Ombudsman commented that this information ought to have been explicitly conveyed in their communications. Miss D reached out to the council upon discovering she had accrued over £1,000 in debt, a realization that occurred nine months after her council tax entitlement initially began to alter. The Ombudsman’s report indicated that the council informed Miss D that because she had opted for electronic billing, the system failed to detect the problems, and the council was unaware she was not receiving their emails. The oversight body stated that the council “should have contacted her to discuss the outstanding debt” once it became aware that Miss D’s payments were not being received. The report further noted: “I accept Miss D’s instalments were constantly changing, but there should have been an alert on the council’s internal system when it was not receiving any payments for several months. The fact there was not one, is fault.” The Ombudsman also mentioned that there was “some onus” on Miss D to verify that payments were being dispatched. However, it recommended that the authority should apologize to her and establish a payment arrangement for both the accumulated debt and her current tax obligations. Furthermore, the Ombudsman directed the council to modify its procedures to prevent comparable problems from arising in the future. A council spokesperson stated that the authority would be “complying fully” with the Ombudsman’s ruling, which includes apologizing to Miss D “for any injustice caused.” They further added, “We’ll also be introducing the necessary alerts and notifications into our processes to ensure this situation isn’t repeated in the future.”