Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about care charges from 2023. There is not a good reason for the delay in the matter being brought to the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council sent Mrs Y (her mother) a £4,000 bill for care in January 2023, after previously having assured her there would be no charge. She said Mrs Y’s family did not receive any financial assessment forms until they requested these in January 2023.
2. Miss X said the matter has left her feeling responsible as the person holding Lasting Power of Attorney for Mrs Y’s finances. She wanted the Council to write off Mrs Y’s fees from September 2022 to January 2023.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. The law says people must complain to us within 12 months of becoming aware of the matter, unless there are good reasons for delay. Miss X became aware of the charges the Council considered due in January 2023. She complained to the Council in May 2025 and then us in August 2025, more than two and a half years after first becoming aware of the charges.
8. Miss X has not provided us with an explanation of the delay. It is likely a chaser from the Council in 2025, or a threat of court action, prompted Miss X to complain. However, it would have been reasonable for her to complain to the Council, then us, in 2023. There is no evident reason for the delay, so we will not investigate complaints about events earlier than August 2024.
9. Considering this, we could not say the Council was at fault for any more recent decision in 2025 to pursue Miss X, on Mrs Y’s behalf, for care charges that remained unpaid. There is therefore insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions that would fall within the time period we could investigate.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Miss X’s late complaint because there is not a good reason for the delay in the matter being brought to the Ombudsman.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman