Overview
The complainant (Mrs C) alleged that a verbal payment agreement for Council Tax was not recorded or honoured by Aberdeen City Council. It is also alleged that Council staff treated Mrs C abruptly when the complaint was initially raised.
Specific complaints and conclusions
The complaints which have been investigated are that
- (a) the council failed to adequately record a verbal agreement reached between Mrs C and a member of staff regarding her payment schedule for Council Tax. Mrs C claims that this error resulted in a summary warrant being issued (upheld).
- (b) staff failed to treat Mrs C with an open mind – Mrs C claims she was not believed by staff when referring to this previous agreement and was treated abruptly (not upheld).
Recommendations
The Ombudsman recommends that the Council
- (i) devise and pilot a clear procedure for staff updating customer records once a verbal payment agreement has been reached via a face to face discussion. Ideally, this would include the production of a signed agreement which both parties can keep as a record. This would clearly prevent similar complaints from arising again; and
- (ii) write an apology to Mrs C for the inconvenience and distress caused by the issuing of an unnecessary Summary Warrant.