Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint, made by Mrs Y, about the Council’s invoicing for 2021 reablement care, and delay in its complaint process. The Council has withdrawn the invoice and apologised to the family. There is not enough unremedied injustice to Mr X or his family to warrant us investigating and pursuing any further remedy. We do not investigate complaints about councils’ complaint process where we are not investigating the core issue which gave rise to the complaint, so will not investigate this part of the complaint.

The complaint

1. The Council provided a reablement package for Mr X in 2021. It overran by nine days. His daughter Mrs Y says she paid all outstanding care fees to the Council in October 2021. The Council sent an invoice in August 2022 seeking payment for the nine days of reablement. Mrs Y complains the Council:
1. incorrectly invoiced Mr X for reablement fees which had already been paid;
2. unfairly required her to gather information to prove the fees had been paid;
3. delayed in investigating the complaint.
2. Mrs Y says the matter caused the family unnecessary stress and anxiety from receiving letter demanding payment of the fees during an already difficult time. She says the delay in completing the investigation caused additional distress. Mrs Y wants the Council to:
• double-check before sending bills, especially after so much time has passed since the service was received;
• find out who is to blame for the incorrect billing as it has happened twice;
• compensate Mr X and his family for the distress caused;
• respond faster to complaints relating to payments;
• do their own investigations into whether payments have already been made rather than relying on families to prove when they are wrong;
• be more transparent in their activities and investigations.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
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(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information from Mrs Y, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs Y complained to the Council about its August 2022 invoice. In response, the Council cancelled the invoice in full and apologised to the family. It said the additional reablement had not previously been accounted for in its invoices.
7. The Council’s cancellation of the invoice resolves the core complaint issues of the reablement fee and the issuing of the invoice. I recognise Mrs Y considers the matter caused stress and anxiety to the family. Receiving an invoice for care from the previous year which they believed to have been paid would have caused some upset and inconvenience. However, the Council apologised to the family in response to the complaint. There is insufficient unremedied injustice caused by the matter to Mr X or his family here to warrant us investigating and seeking any additional remedy.
8. Mrs Y says the Council delayed in dealing with her complaint. We do not investigate complaints about councils’ complaint-handling in isolation where we are not investigating the core issue which gave rise to the complaint. It is not a good use of our resources to do so. That limitation applies here so we will not investigate this part of the complaint.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint because:
• there is not enough unremedied injustice to Mr X or the family to warrant us investigating and pursuing any further remedy; and
• we do not investigate councils’ complaint-handling where we are not investigating the core issue which gave rise to the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman