Suicide of man after wrong tax bill

A town hall's "disastrous" benefits department has been severely criticised after a man committed suicide over a £235 council tax summons he should never have been sent.

George Hilleard, 54, hanged himself on the same weekend that he received a letter threatening to take him to court because of an unpaid council tax bill.

It later emerged that the outofwork carpenter, who suffered from learning difficulties, had made applications for council tax benefit three months beforehand that should have exempted him.

But Southwark council's privatised benefits service, CSL, failed to process the claim - and instead sent him a summons threatening him with prison over the unpaid bill.

The council has now offered to pay Mr Hilleard's family £3,200 in compensation after the Local Government Ombudsman investigated a complaint brought by his sister Grace, 66, and her husband Leonard Capper, 73.

Mr Capper said: "This past year has been a nightmare for my wife and myself. With her brother's learning difficulties, all he probably saw on the bill was the bit threatening to send him to prison.

"It was only as a result of my inquiries that all this came to light - otherwise I think they would have been quite happy to just sweep it under the table."

Mr Hilleard left school without being able to read or write, but with his family's help learned basic literacy skills. Despite being unemployed for several years he remained hopeful of finding work.

But in October 2000, the Benefits Agency mistakenly ceased his Jobseekers' Allowance, causing CSL to cancel his council tax benefit and send him the £235 bill.

Conscientiously, Mr Hilleard then visited the council offices twice - once that month and once in December - to fill out new applications for council tax benefit, providing confirmation that he was again receiving his allowance.

However, the Ombudsman found that "nothing significant" was done with the claims, and on 12 January 2001 a summons was sent to Mr Hilleard's home in Borough ordering him to appear in court the next month.

On 16 January his sister-in-law Suzanne visited him and saw his body hanging in his flat. The opened summons letter was with him, and a note littered with calculations bore a message saying he had committed suicide because of his debts. He owed no other monies to cause him concern.

Describing how the claim - seen by several people - went "disastrously wrong", ombudsman Jerry White said: "There was nothing complex about the case, and there was therefore no reason this claim should not have been determined immediately. But the council and CSL did nothing."

He added: "Sadly, there is only one person who could say precisely why (Mr Hilleard) decided to take his own life . . . On balance I conclude the summons issued as a result of maladministration contributed to his distress."

Mr White also highlighted how CSL added insult to injury in dealing with Mr Hilleard's relatives when they first suspected something had gone wrong. All they got was a "standard response" letter providing a telephone number for benefit inquiries.

The company's performance has been in question since it took over benefits administration from Southwark's in-house service five years ago. Claimants' complaints rocketed, although improvements are now underway.

Southwark council, which apologised to Mr Hilleard's family after his death, said an investigation had been carried out. While no staff had been disciplined, procedures had been tightened, especially regarding liaison between the Benefits Agency and its own tax benefits staff.