A North London resident claimed she was left ‘confused and in shock’ after receiving ‘threatening letters’ from their council as it tried to recover nearly £900 that had been incorrectly credited to her account two years earlier.
An investigation by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) found that Brent Council was at fault for the initial error of crediting the money to the wrong council tax account, as well as not realising the mistake until some years later and not contacting the resident to explain what had happened.
The woman, referred to in the report as Ms D, complained to the LGO after receiving letters from the local authority that ‘threatened to finer her and send bailiffs to her home’ despite not providing an explanation as to why she owed the money. Ms D claimed she was left ‘confused, in shock and vulnerable’ and the ordeal had a ‘detrimental impact’ on her mental health and wellbeing.
In 2021, Brent Council incorrectly credited her council tax account with nearly £900 that was intended for another resident after an inputting error by one of its officers. The council later refunded the money back to Ms D’s bank account.
However, the mistake wasn’t recognised until September 2023 when the intended recipient of the money complained that they never received it. The council then realised its mistake from 2021 and changed Ms D’s account as a result, leaving it in debt by the same amount. It then sent her a bill for the balance and a payment plan starting the following month, with the reason for its issue stated as ‘AdHoc’ with no additional explanation given.
Ms D eventually complained to the council after receiving a reminder for the unpaid bill, requesting for a refund of the amount deducted from her account and £120 compensation for the distress caused. The council said it ‘did not consider it appropriate’ to pay compensation as Ms D ‘should have been aware’ that she did not make the initial payment into her account, according to the LGO report.
In January 2024, Ms D paid the outstanding balance on her account and escalated the complaint to the ombudsman. The council acknowledged that it was ‘regrettable’ it had not provided a full explanation of the bill and offered £120 in compensation but didn’t believe there were grounds to refund the amount originally paid to her.
The LGO stated that they ‘cannot be critical of the council seeking to collect it’ after it was made aware of its earlier error but added that the way in which the local authority went about trying to recover the debt ‘did likely cause Ms D some avoidable distress’.
A spokesperson for Brent Council said: “We apologise to the complainant for any distress caused. The recommended payment has been made and we have already implemented actions to prevent similar situations occurring again with respect to accounts in credit or debit.
“If a debt is generated due to council error, the taxpayer is contacted before being issued with an unexpected bill.”
They added: “We remain fully committed to learning from this experience and improving our approach to provide the highest standards of service to our residents.”
Grant Williams is a journalist and Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) for Reach PLC, reporting on local government, politics and community issues across London. As part of the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he has contributed to Harrow Online, covering council decisions, housing developments, transport, planning matters and stories affecting local communities across Harrow and Brent.
