Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council treated a loan when it assessed the complainant’s care costs. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains about the way the Council treated a loan when it assessed his financial contribution towards the cost of his care.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and information about the financial assessments. I also considered our Assessment Code and comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision

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My assessment

4. The Council assessed Mr X’s finances to work out how much he must contribute to the cost of his care. The assessment takes into account his mortgage costs which reduces the amount he has to contribute to the cost of the care.
5. For a period between 2018 and 2020 the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) paid money to Mr X’s mortgage provider. This was a loan and will be repaid when the property is sold. Mr X complained that the Council should take this into account when assessing his contribution. He said he should pay less towards his care because he will have to repay the loan. Mr X also says the Council treated the loan as income which is contrary to the Care Act.
6. The Council said it takes into account the payments he makes to his lender but it cannot take into account the DWP loan. The Council did not treat the loan as income.
7. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The loan was made by the DWP and did not affect Mr X’s ability to pay for his care as it will be repaid, in the future, from the sale of the property. The Council has, however, taken into account the payments Mr X makes to the lender because these payments reduce the income he has available to pay for his care. The Council also made sure Mr X has enough money for his basic needs. In addition from 2017 to June 2019 Mr X did not make any contributions to the cost of his care due to the level of his income.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman