A woman was left ‘distressed’ when bailiffs visited her home demanding she paid her council tax after she had already paid it.
An investigation by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) found miscommunication between Wokingham Borough Council and enforcement officers meant a visit to the woman’s home was not needed.
The woman, referred to as Mrs X, had a property that she rented out to a tenant who was paying council tax. After they moved out, Wokingham Borough Council sent the council bill to Mrs X’s home address. This covered from the date the tenant moved out to the end of the council tax year.
The council sent reminders for this after 14 days and later sent a court summons after the woman failed to pay the bill. This sought the full council tax as well as £84.
A few days later, Mrs X paid the original missed instalment, rather than the full tax for the year. This was at the time another tenant moved into her property.
The council issued a bill to the new tenant as well as a reduced bill to Mrs X to cover the legal costs and liability order.
After no payment was made, Mrs X was sent a letter with an added £75 fee – and she paid slightly more than she owed.
But the council did not tell enforcement agents this, and several weekends later, they visited her home seeking the payment, with £235 added on top.
The agent’s body camera was not working, and the visit led to police officers attending the home. The agent ended up leaving after not being able to verify what the woman had said about the payment.
Mrs X then contacted the council to complain.
The following Monday the council contacted the agents and confirmed the debt had been paid before the enforcement visit. It apologised to Mrs X and said the enforcement action had been ‘unnecessary’.
Mrs X said the visit from enforcement caused her ‘trauma and stress’.
The LGO ruled that although the council followed the correct procedures to begin with, the Council ‘failed to quickly update’ bailiffs when the payment had been made.
Following the incident, Wokingham Borough Council apologised to Mrs X, corrected the council tax account and refunded the overpayment. It also paid her £100.
The LGO found this action already taken ‘proportionate’ and did not order any more remedies for the woman.
Wokingham Borough Council has told bailiffs to only make home visits when an agent’s body camera is working.
