Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about adult social care charges. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council charged him for care he did not receive. He also said the Council did not tell him the cost of his client contributions before the package of care started. He said a social worker told him he would not have to pay for his care.
2. Mr X said the Council’s actions had caused his health to deteriorate and forced him to cancel his package of care because he was worried about escalating costs. Mr X wants an apology and financial compensation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate 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 or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council charging him for his adult social care. The Council confirmed that before the care started it:
• provided Mr X information about the financial assessment,
• sent him a financial assessment to complete on two occasions, and
• offered him telephone support and extra time to complete the assessment.
7. It said Mr X did not complete the financial assessment therefore it wrote to him setting out his financial contribution. It said after Mr X completed the financial assessment it wrote to him to confirm his contributions.
8. I am satisfied the Council made sufficient attempts to complete the financial assessment with Mr X. Until Mr X completed that assessment, it could not confirm his client contributions. The social worker provided information to Mr X about savings thresholds. However, only the completed financial assessment could determine what Mr X was required to pay. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our investigation.
9. The Council did incorrectly invoice Mr X for care he did not receive. It has recently issued an amended invoice removing those care charges. Any outstanding injustice caused by the incorrect invoicing is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman