Clerical confusion and billing errors led to a Barnet resident being unfairly threatened with court action for not paying her council tax, Ombudsman finds.

The woman told the London council her daughter had moved out of the home they shared, and requested the council apply the single person’s discount to her bill.

However, the council closed her original account and created a new one for her.

Over the next 10 months the council sent her 20 bills, some showing her account was in credit, others showing a deficit.

The council also insisted on only communicating with the woman by email despite the fact that she told the local authority that she couldn’t access her emails.

When the correct bill was finally issued, the woman was only given a few weeks to pay. The council obtained a liability order for the debt through the courts and referred this to bailiffs, who traced the account to the wrong address.

The woman complained to the Ombudsman after she was not satisfied with the way the council handled her complaint.

Paul Najsarek, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: ‘Councils across the country handle millions of council tax accounts every year, and in the vast majority of cases, these are billed and administered without a hitch.

‘This case highlights the importance of getting the basics right, and demonstrates what can go wrong when seemingly minor errors are compounded by too rigid policies.’

A Barnet Council spokesperson said: 'Upon receiving the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s findings, we have taken the necessary steps to action the remedies as quickly and efficiently as possible. We apologise for the issues relating to this resident’s 2019-2020 council tax bill.

'We are always striving to provide the best possible services for our residents and we are disappointed on this occasion we have fallen short. Therefore we are also using this as a learning opportunity to prevent anything like this from happening again.'