Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a debt for adult social care charges the Council says Mr X owes and must pay. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about a debt the Council says he owes for unpaid adult social care charges since September 2021. Mr X says the Council sent him a bill for over £15,000 without warning or clear explanation of how the debt had accrued. Mr X says the sudden demand for a large sum of money caused him to experience distress, anxiety and confusion which impacted on his wellbeing. Mr X wants the Council to review how it calculated the charges and communicate the outcome of the review clearly considering reasonable adjustments in the way it communicates with him. He also wants the Council to make improvements.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mr X started receiving adult social care and support in August 2020. The Council said he paid the invoices for his assessed contribution until September 2021 and then stopped paying.
6. The Council continued to send Mr X four-weekly invoices showing the care he received and the contribution he needed to pay. It also sent an annual letter each March showing the change in his contribution due to the annual increase in payments from the Department of Work and Pensions.
7. Mr X complained to the Council in April 2025 about a large bill he received from its arrears team stating he owed over £15,000. Mr X said he believed the contribution towards his care was nil charge from September 2021 and he had not received invoices from the Council.
8. The Council’s initial investigation found no evidence show it had sent Mr X correspondence stating he did not need to pay towards his care. It said it had sent four-weekly invoices and an annual letter each March confirming any changes to his contribution. It said if Mr X did not respond within 14 days its arrears team would contact him.
9. The Council completed a review of its complaint findings as requested by Mr X. It wrote to him again in July. It reiterated its earlier findings accepting its invoicing system could not show an accumulative total rather than the four-weekly amount owed.
10. The Council said Mr X could make lump sum payments towards the debt or pay a smaller weekly payment towards the arrears. It told Mr X if the figure it suggested was not affordable, he could suggest a different amount based on evidence of his income and outgoings.
11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. The evidence available suggests the Council continued to send Mr X four-weekly invoices confirming the assessed contribution he needed to pay. It accepts its invoicing system had limitations because it did not show the total amount owed for the whole period. Nevertheless, Mr X could have contacted the Council to confirm the total amount he owed. There is not enough evidence to support his view he did not receive the invoices from 2021.
12. The Council has offered a repayment plan and if this not affordable Mr X can contact the Council to agree a different amount based on his income and outgoings. We cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman