Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint that the Council failed to pay bills when it assisted the complainant with her finances in 2014. This is because it is a late complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, complains that the Council, when it was responsible for paying her bills in 2014, failed to do so. As a result Ms X accrued debts, including rent arrears. Ms X now cannot apply for social housing because of the rent arrears. Ms X wants the Council to pay all her debts.

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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. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I read the complaint and the complaint responses the Council sent to Ms X in 2015, 2016 and 2017. I considered comments Ms X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

5. Ms X was receiving help from the Council for mental health issues. In 2014 a social worker was acting as Ms X’s appointee and was responsible for paying her bills.
6. The Council discharged Ms X from its mental health service in 2015. Ms X says she then discovered a lot of unpaid bills and found out she was in debt. Ms X complained to the Council and said the social worker had failed to pay the bills.
7. The Council replied in 2015. It explained it had paid all the bills it had received. It pointed out Ms X had had debts before she started to receive support from the Council. The Council signposted Ms X to the Ombudsman in 2015.
8. Ms X made the same complaint to the Council in 2016. The Council replied in May 2016. It explained it had not received any invoices for one of her mobile phone accounts. The Council also explained it did not received invoices for six months for another mobile phone account. It said it could only pay the invoices it received. It said it had asked Ms X to forward invoices but she had not done so. It also said it had provided a support worker but Ms X had not engaged with that support. In 2016 the Council again signposted Ms X to the Ombudsman. The Council also directed Ms X to debt advice.
9. Ms X complained to the Council in 2017. The Council said it had already responded to her complaint. In February 2017 the Council again invited Ms X to complain to the Ombudsman.
10. Ms X is currently suspended from the housing register because she has rent arrears. She says this is due to the actions of the social worker. The Council says she has rent arrears of £892 which she accrued between 2013 and 2018.
11. Ms X blames the Council for her debts. She wants the Council to pay all her debts and allow her to bid for a home. Ms X has referred to debts from a mobile phone provider. The account is the same one referred to in the Council’s letter of 2016.

Assessment

12. I will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint. Ms X has held the Council responsible for her debts since 2015 but she did not complain to the Ombudsman until 2019. The Council signposted Ms X to the Ombudsman in 2015, 2016, and 2017.
13. I considered if I should accept a late complaint because Ms X has been unwell. But, Ms X was discharged in 2015 and, as she was well enough to make repeated complaints to the Council, then it is reasonable to expect that she would have complained to the Ombudsman before 2019. In addition, Ms X made specific complaints to the Council, in 2016, about her mobile phone accounts. If she disagreed with the Council’s response then it is reasonable to expect that she would have contacted the Ombudsman in 2016.
14. In addition, the bulk of the rent arrears were accrued after Ms X became responsible for managing her finances in 2015. So, she would still have significant rent arrears regardless of whether the Council paid the rent while it was assisting her.

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Final decision

15. I will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman