Can I appeal a LA decision where they haven’t adjudicated on the issue I wanted – but still made the decision in the clients favor

Can I appeal a LA decision where they haven’t adudicated on the issue I wanted – but still made the decision in the clients favor

I would be grateful for any opinions on this case and whether I can appeal

I was in dialogue with the local authority, trying to get a property disregarded as capital for council tax reduction

There was an issue as to who owned the property – the client or his brother, who lived in America and had exactly the same name

The dialogue was conducted to try to establish what evidence would satisfy the council that the property was not owned by my client

This decision was never concluded, because the decision was revised on the basis that there was an underlying entitlement of universal credit and therefore payable from the date of the last application

However, the client has substantial council tax arrears where he would have been entitled to council tax reduction if it were proved at the time that he did not own this property. These decisions are out of time and the council is not prepared to look at them

What I am wondering is whether I could potentially appeal the favorable CTR because they haven’t considered the issue of property ownership. This is the only decision that could be appealed within the 13-month deadline

What I want is for them to adjudicate on the ownership of the property - because if they decide that he doesn’t own the property, then there will be an argument that the previous council tax decisions should be overturned (perhaps)

I would be really grateful for your thoughts

not sure that is possible or if it would get you what you (seem to) want anyway.

The question of ownership of the property in question may be (in some ways) already answered at least in the present situation he finds himself in…the fact he gets UC at all appears to be determinative of the fact that he either a) does not own the property or b) does not own an interest in the property, or c) at least does not own sufficient interest in the property to create a capital value/notional value above the UC thresholds (and thus above the £16k for CTR by the same logic).

However, in any event, all that only deals with the value of his interest in the property as it currently stands and - at best - whilst he has been receiving UC and not (in that sense) before that time.

His ownership or the value of his interest throughout is dependent on the facts.

If his entitlement to UC etc (as above) is (and perhaps is retrospectively) determinative of a lack of ownership or interest over the relevant timescales in your case then I would suggest that rather than seeking to obtain a decision on those issues which are out of time in terms of the latest CTR decision, you could simply place all the same “facts” and indicators into the same bag and seek a write off of the Council Tax under s13A for the period in question…on the basis that - had the correct decisions on CTR been made at the time (using the same facts and logic) - then no liability (or at least a substantially smaller liability)  would/should have ensued…

just thinking it through imo ...others may have a different slant

CTR appeals go through the Council Tax appeals system - completely different from social security.

There is a sort of MR layer where the taxpayer has to take up their grievance with the billing authority initially, and then:

- they have two months to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal for Wales after the Council responds locally, or
- if there is no response from the Council within two months they can appeal to the VTW anyway

But I don’t think there is any time limit in which to raise the issue with the Council in the first place.  I would therefore suggest that the taxpayer can dispute the CTR capital calculation for the earlier pre-UC period and appeal to the VTW if the Council does not agree to do that within two months.  That might be the stage you are now at - the Council has had this matter under consideration for two months and has failed to address any period pre-UC entitlement, so there is a right of appeal to the VTW.