IRRV Alert - week ending 25th August 2023
News
Consultations
New benefits and taxation decisions
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A weekly update on benefits and taxation decisions |
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Please note: our decisions are published six weeks after they are issued to councils, care providers and the person who has made the complaint. The cases below reflect the caselaw and guidance available at the time of issue and the individual circumstances of each case. Somerset West and Taunton Council (22 016 883)
Summary: Mr X complained the Council sent council tax bills and correspondence to a property he had not owned since 2012 rather than his current address, and wrongly obtained a liability order and instructed enforcement agents to recover the debt. The Council’s failure to link Mr X’s properties and ensure his current address was properly recorded is fault. As was the failure to suspend recovery action when Mr X paid the outstanding council tax. These faults have caused Mr X an injustice. East Suffolk Council (23 003 358)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about recovery action taken by the Council to recover benefit overpayments. This is because it is a late complaint, there were appeal rights the complainant could have used and because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. London Borough of Barnet (23 004 136)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Ms X’s council tax account as there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and Ms X can appeal against the Council's decision on her liability to the Valuation Tribunal. London Borough of Merton (23 004 098)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council has unreasonably charged council tax on an uninhabitable property. This is because there is no sign of fault by the Council regarding its policy, and the property owner could have appealed to the Valuation Tribunal if he felt the charging decision was wrong. London Borough of Haringey (22 010 542)
Summary: Ms X complains about the Council’s actions in recovering a housing benefit overpayment and regarding a claim for a discretionary housing payment. We found fault by the Council and it has agreed the remedy we recommended. Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (23 003 898)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to award Mr X a refund which reflects the reduction in the purchasing power of money from 1993 onwards. This is because there is no evidence of fault in the Council’s actions. City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (23 004 313)
Summary: A landlord complained that the Council had wrongly decided he was liable for council tax which his tenant should have paid. But we cannot investigate this matter as the landlord has already appealed to the Valuation Tribunal about the tax liability dispute. Swale Borough Council (23 002 527)
Summary: We will not investigate this council tax complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
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