Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mr X’s application for help with care home charges for his late wife. Investigation by us would not be likely to lead to a different or more worthwhile outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X said the Council mismanaged his application for help with care home fees when his late wife’s assets were approaching the £23,250 threshold for assistance. He said the Council failed to call him back or respond to chasing emails, then admitted the application had been closed in error for three weeks. He said it also at first failed to adhere to the requirements of the Care Act 2014 in apportioning unequal assets in a joint bank account despite clear evidence he provided.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We may investigate a complaint on behalf of someone who has died or who cannot authorise someone to act for them. The complaint may be made by:

• their personal representative (if they have one), or
• someone we consider to be suitable.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(2) and 34C(2), as amended)

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:

• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

My assessment

6. The matters Mr X complained of happened in a period of two months between July and September 2025. The Council accepted it had not handled the application well, and that this caused Mr X unnecessary additional stress at a difficult time shortly before his wife’s death. It apologised that he had had to complain. Mr X’s frustration is clear from the correspondence he had with the Council at the time he was chasing the matter up. However, I note Mr X has not claimed the Council owes him an amount of money in wrongly paid care charges. Therefore, an investigation by us would be unlikely to add significantly to the Council’s own finding or lead to a significantly different outcome.

Back to top

Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because doing so would be unlikely to lead to a different or worthwhile outcome.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman