Man’s stress after receiving unexpected large council tax bill without repayment plan offer

South Ribble Borough Council building. Pic: South Ribble Council

A man was left stressed after receiving a large council tax bill without explanation which he felt he needed to pay immediately.

South Ribble Borough Council (SRBC) has apologised to the resident after it failed to collect council tax from him for a year and then sent him an invoice for the full amount.

The correct course of action would have been to contact the man before sending the invoice to alert him to the issue and to offer a payment plan. That action was taken by the council after the fact.

The man was able to repay the money but made a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) in relation to the stress caused by the demand for a large amount of money.

According to the LGO’s investigation, a misheard house number led to the council incorrectly closing the man’s Council Tax account in February 2023. No further direct debits for Council Tax were taken from his account but in January 2024, the mistake was realised and a bill sent.

The LGO upheld the complaint but recommended against a request to write off the council tax bill on the basis that he was living in the property and using council services. The authority has however offered to reimburse the sum and allow him to repay in instalments but this was rejected by the man.

As a result of the upheld complaint, SRBC was told to update its written operational procedures to state that in such a situation, residents should first be contacted to receive an apology and be offered a repayment plan.

A spokesperson for the council said: “We accepted the error quickly, sought to remedy the issue with the council tax payer immediately and took steps to prevent this issue arising again. Whilst the Ombudsman did uphold the complaint, they found the actions taken by us had resolved any injustice and recommended no further action.”

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