Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint that her care provider failed to compensate her for the damage carers did to her belongings. This is because we could not order the Council to pay compensation to her.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mrs B, complained that the provider of domiciliary care failed to compensate her for the damage carers did to her belongings. Mrs B told us she has had to pay for replacements and she has suffered inconvenience.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal.(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered the information Mrs B provided, her complaint to the Council and the Council’s response. I have given Mrs B an opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

6. Mrs B told us a carer damaged her shower, the cooker door, her kettle and many other items. She asked the care provider to compensate her through their insurance company but she told us the company had ignored her requests. She then complained to the Council. Mrs B told us the care provider has cancelled the care service contract.
7. In its April 2019 response to Mrs B’s complaint, the Council said it had contacted the care provider. The care provider told the Council it would contact Mrs B. The Council partially upheld Mrs B’s complaint. It apologised to Mrs B for the care provider’s lack of contact with her. The Council said its officer would continue to pursue a response and tell her about any further correspondence from the care provider. Given this commitment by the Council, it is not unreasonable to expect Mrs B to ask the Council to review the matter if there has been no further progress.
8. The question of liability for the damage Mrs B has described is a legal matter. So, if Mrs B’s compensation claim is not resolved through the Council’s intervention or insurers, a court of law would, ultimately, be the appropriate body to rule on who is liable. We do not rule on questions of liability and we have no powers to order payment of the compensation Mrs B is seeking.
9. We would not investigate a complaint about the way a body in our jurisdiction had dealt with an issue if we are not investigating the substantive matter, the compensation claim.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because we could not order the Council to pay compensation to the complainant.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman