Hertfordshire County Council (25 018 463)
Category : Adult care services > Assessment and care plan
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 28 Apr 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about financial assessments carried out in 2018. The complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion and investigate now.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council failed to properly assess his father-in-law (Mr Z’s) contributions to his domiciliary care.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council/ has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr Z needed domiciliary care in 2018 which the family arranged and paid for. Shortly after, the family asked the Council to carry out a financial assessment to determine what contributions Mr Z should make towards his care. There were subsequent disputes over the amount of capital he had and his contributions. Mr Z died in December 2018.
- Mr X complained in December 2019. He says the Council did not meet his to discuss the complaint until 2021. In 2021, the Council wrote to Mr X and said it would review the financial assessments it had already carried out.
- In March 2023, the Council provided a date from which it would disregard various sums of capital. Mr X disagreed with this and challenged it.
- In November 2024, the Council provided its final response. In the main, this referred back to its response made in 2018 to the same matters.
- Mr X complained to us in November 2025.
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because they are late. Mr X has been aware of the events complained about for between three and six years. He could have come to us at any time in that period. I can see no good reason to exercise discretion and investigate now.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman