Birmingham City Council (20 012 076)
Category : Adult care services > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 07 Apr 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr Q’s complaint about the Council’s failure to reissue a cheque for his late aunt’s estate. This is because the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I have called Mr Q, complained about the actions of Birmingham City Council. He said he could not cash a cheque made payable to his late aunt’s executors and the Council failed to reissue the cheque in his own name.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered the information Mr Q and the Council provided.
What I found
- Mr Q is the executor for his late aunt’s estate. The Council refunded £12.18 for her careline service. However, the Council made the cheque payable to the executors of the estate. Mr Q could not cash the cheque. He asked the Council several times to reissue the cheque in his own name so he could cash it.
- I understand it is frustrating the Council did not reissue the cheque. However, the injustice caused to Mr Q and the beneficiaries of his aunt’s estate by the loss of £12.18 is not significant enough to justify our involvement. We will not investigate Mr Q’s complaint for this reason.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr Q’s complaint. This is because the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman