Essex County Council (23 008 988)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s pursuit of Mr X for care charges incurred by his late mother Ms Y. This is because the Council has put forward a reasonable remedy during our consideration of the complaint.
The complaint
- Mr X complained the Council sent him an invoice for care charges incurred by his late mother Ms Y and failed to explain what the charges related to.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X received an invoice from the Council related to care charges incurred by his late mother Ms Y. He contacted the Council regarding the invoice and asked the Council to provide evidence such as timesheets, to show the charges were valid.
- The Council confirmed Ms Y incurred the charges between 2019 and 2022 but could not provide timesheets. The Council said it was confident the charges were valid, and it explained it had been pursuing Ms Y for payment prior to contacting Mr X.
- In response to our enquiries, the Council has confirmed it has since written off the outstanding debt on Ms Y’s account and provided Mr X with a £150 gesture of goodwill to address any inconvenience caused by this matter. An investigation into this matter is therefore no longer necessary as the Council has provided a satisfactory remedy to Mr X.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Council has put forward a reasonable remedy during our consideration of the complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman