Leicester City Council (19 001 457)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Housing benefit and council tax benefit 07-Jun-2019

Summary: Mrs X complains that the Council did not pay her the full housing benefit for a tenant and gave inappropriate advice to the tenant. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

Warrington Council (19 000 151)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Housing benefit and council tax benefit 06-Jun-2019

Summary: Ms X complains about the Council’s decision to refuse her Housing Benefit and Discretionary Hardship Payment (DHP) claims. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because she has appealed to a tribunal.

Taunton Deane Borough Council (18 010 686)

Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 31-May-2019

Summary: There was fault in how the Council dealt with Mrs B’s housing situation. It did not do enough to make sure her emergency accommodation was suitable. This meant that Mrs B’s father found and paid for her emergency accommodation. The Council also failed to set out how she could appeal against decisions on her housing benefit or escalate her complaint. The Council has agreed to pay Mrs B in recognition of the distress it caused her, pay her father the accommodation costs it would have met, and review its processes to make sure this does not recur.

London Borough of Sutton (19 001 458)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Housing benefit and council tax benefit 31-May-2019

Summary: Ms X complains that the Council did not pay housing benefit for her mother to live in Ms X’s separate property. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because the matter was appealed to a tribunal.

Luton Borough Council (18 013 132)

Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 30-May-2019

Summary: Mr X complains the Council is seeking to recover overpayments of housing benefit it previously considered to be non recoverable. The Council did not agree that all overpayments of housing benefit paid to Mr X were non recoverable. But the Council is at fault as it failed to recover the overpayments from Mr X between 2015 and 2018. Mr X was caused some shock as he received an unexpected bill for the overpayments in 2018. The Council has agreed to remedy Mr X’s injustice by apologising to him and arranging a reasonable repayment plan with Mr X.

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council (19 000 413)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Housing benefit and council tax benefit 30-May-2019

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this housing benefit complaint. This is because there were appeal rights the complainant could have used and because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Huntingdonshire District Council (18 015 605)

Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 29-May-2019

Summary: Mrs B complained about the Council saying she had received too much benefit. The Council was at fault for taking too long to refer Mrs B’s appeal to the Tribunal. That caused Mrs B unnecessarily prolonged uncertainty. To put matters right, the Council agreed to apologise, pay £100, complete an audit to identify similar cases and improve its practices. We do not criticise the Council for not changing some of its decisions about Mrs B’s benefits sooner.

Hartlepool Borough Council (18 016 709)

Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 29-May-2019

Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s handling of his application for discretionary housing payments. The Council did not properly decide Mr X’s and some other people’s applications. This caused Mr X a missed opportunity, uncertainty and frustration. The Council agreed to put right the resulting injustice, including by reconsidering Mr X’s and the other affected applications and paying £150.

Birmingham City Council (18 017 737)

Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 28-May-2019

Summary: The Council paid housing benefit to a tenant when it should have paid it to the landlord. The tenant did not pass the money on and left the property. To remedy the injustice it caused, the Council will pay the landlord the same amount it paid the tenant in housing benefit.

Epping Forest District Council (19 000 554)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Housing benefit and council tax benefit 24-May-2019

Summary: Ms X complained about a Council officer asking her intrusive questions about her benefit claim in an aggressive manner. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of any fault which has caused injustice to Ms X.