Oxford City Council (03B13806)

Managing tenancies                   Maladministration causing injustice

31 May 2006

‘Mr Roper’ (not his real name for legal reasons), is a council tenant in sheltered accommodation. He complained that the Council had overcharged him for gas consumption from April 2002, and had wrongly applied its rent charging system because his home had not been modernised. He sought a refund.

From April 2001 the Council made a number of changes to the way it charged residents of sheltered accommodation, both for rent and associated services, in order to reflect changing government guidance.

The Ombudsman found that Mr Roper had not been overcharged for gas. The Council had not provided clear information to show this to Mr Roper, but it was provided later during the investigation. However, the Ombudsman found that the Council had not properly implemented its rent charging system for Mr Roper’s block of sheltered flats and, as a result, he had been overcharged for more than a decade. The Council acknowledged there was inconsistency in its application of the rent charging system that affected other tenants, and it would rectify this.

The Ombudsman found maladministration causing injustice and recommended the Council to pay Mr Roper £1,000 for his time, trouble and frustration in pursuing his complaint, and a further sum of around £3,600 (calculation to be finalised) representing a refund of rent plus interest. The Council agreed to do this, and has also agreed to provide appropriate refunds with interest for other tenants it has treated in a similar way to Mr Roper.

Finally the Ombudsman recommended that the Council reviews the way it implements changes in the rent account, and carries out an interim internal audit to ensure further financial errors affecting tenants do not persist. The Council has agreed to these recommendations also.

Date Published: 30/01/09