Summary: There was no fault backdating Mr Y’s care contribution to the date the benefit was awarded because the Council told Mr Y to inform it when he was awarded Personal Independence payment, a welfare benefit. There was no fault by the Council in failing to tell Mr Y it was reassessing his contribution.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained on behalf of Mr Y. He said:
1. The Council backdated Mr Y’s care contribution (charge) from December 2023 and did not notify him until March 2024. He also said the Council did not tell him it was carrying out a financial reassessment.
2. The account he was using to pay his contributions into (a prepaid financial services account) was closed in May 2025 and he did not receive a letter about this at the time. Some standing orders bounced until he was told about the account change in August 2025 on the phone. The failure to notify him caused avoidable distress.
3. From March 2024 on, the Council ran two payment systems in parallel – the direct payment account and an invoice system (managed by the Council’s credit control department. This duplication meant Mr Y was paying by standing order and being invoiced – meaning he was being charged twice. This means that the Council owes him money; but the Council maintains he owes it money.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)
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. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(1), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

Complaint (a)

5. I investigated complaint (a) although it is late. This is because Mr Y is autistic and has learning disabilities which made it difficult for him to complain to us on time.

Complaints (b) and (c)

6. In July 2025 Mr Y and the Council’s credit control team exchanged emails about invoices covering the period December 2023 to July 2025. Mr Y said he had paid everything that was due and in fact had overpaid by £165. The credit control team emailed copies of invoices from February 2024 to July 2025 and said these needed to be paid The credit control team said screenshots Mr Y had provided showed payments into an account in his name rather than to the Council
7. Mr Y said he was unhappy and would be complaining to the LGSCO. The credit control team acknowledged this but also said Mr Y could complain to the Council, attached a complaint form and said it would forward the completed form to the complaints team. Mr Y didn’t complain to the Council, but approached us directly
8. I did not investigate complaints (b) and (c) because they are about matters which Mr Y has not raised formally with the Council as a complaint (although he has communicated with the credit control department, he has not complained to the complaints team). It is reasonable for the Council to investigate and respond to complaints (b) (c). We have sent the Council a copy of Mr X’s detailed submissions to the Council and asked it to respond to his points.

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How I considered this complaint

9. I considered evidence provided by the parties as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
10. The parties had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

11. Councils have the power to charge for non-residential care and support. They follow charging rules in Care and Support Statutory Guidance and carry out a financial assessment (FA) which takes into account a person’s income and capital to set their weekly contribution. Councils carry out financial assessments yearly as benefits increase.

What happened

12. On 14 February 2022, the Council wrote to Mr Y saying he had a nil contribution from that date. The letter went on to say it was aware he had applied for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and he needed to tell the Council when he was awarded PIP, that this would increase his contribution and the Council may backdate it to the date of the PIP award.
13. There is no evidence Mr Y told the Council about his PIP award and said in 2024 to the complaints team that he did not realised he was supposed to. Internal records indicate the Council found out about the award through checking the DWP’s searchlight database.
14. On 8 February 2024, the Council wrote to Mr Y saying it had carried out an FA and from 4 December 2023, his contribution was £30.The Council said it would be invoicing him for the charge from 4 December 2023 to 24 March 2024 and thereafter he would need to pay the contribution into his direct payment bank account and it had told the direct payments team that this would be happening.
15. In May 2024, Mr X complained to the Council about the matters in paragraph 1(a). He said:
• Mr Y did not receive an email from the Council February 2024 outlining the changes to his charge; nor did he receive a letter on 8 February about the same. Mr Y did receive a phone call from the Council in March 2024
• Due to not receiving timely communications, Mr Y was left with a large amount of arrears which has caused distress
• The Council did not notify Mr Y that an FA was taking place
16. The Council responded to the complaint in August 2024 saying:
• Mr Y was told by phone and in a letter in February 2022 that he did not have to pay a contribution. He was told to inform the Council when he was awarded PIP and the Council would backdate the contribution to the start date of PIP
• On 2 February 2024, the Council found out Mr Y had been awarded PIP since 2021. He had not told the Council and so it carried out an FA and the outcome was he would need to pay a weekly contribution of £30. The Council told him about this in a letter and by phone.
• He was also told the contribution would be backdated to 4 December 2023, but not to October 2021
• So the backdated payment was due by invoice from 4 December 2023 to 24 March 2024. Thereafter, he needed to pay the care contribution into his direct payment account.

Findings

17. The Council informed Mr Y in February 2022 that he needed to advise the finance team when he was awarded PIP. Mr X may not have received the letter, but it is no possible to establish the reason. The letter advised him of the position on backdating if he was awarded PIP. There is no fault by the Council which could have backdated Mr Y’s care contribution to September 2021 which would have meant a larger arrears payment would have been due.
18. The Council did not have to tell Mr Y it was carrying out a reassessment of his finances. It does annual assessments because of yearly changes to everyone’s benefit awards. This does not require the person to be involved.

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Decision

19. I find no fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman