Summary: A woman complained that a care home had failed to respond to her request for information about her late uncle’s will. But we will not pursue this matter because there are no available records and, as a result, we are unable to carry out a meaningful investigation or achieve the outcome the woman is seeking.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall call Miss X, said she had recently found out that her late uncle (‘Mr Y’) may have written a will when he was living in a care home in the Council’s area before 2005. Miss X complained that the care home had failed to respond to her letter asking for information about the will.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if, for example, we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information Miss X provided with her complaint. I also took account of information from the Council about its records in Mr Y’s case. In addition, I gave Miss X an opportunity to comment on my initial views about her complaint before I reached a final decision.

My assessment

4. The Council said it was partially responsible for funding Mr Y’s placement in the care home. But it said its records concerning Mr Y only went back to 2008 and by that time he had moved to a different property in another council’s area.
5. In the circumstances I consider we would not be justified in starting an investigation into Miss X’s complaint. This is because in the absence of relevant records it appears highly unlikely we would be able to carry out an effective investigation into what happened over fifteen years ago and, as a result, we could not achieve a worthwhile outcome for Miss X.

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Final decision

6. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about a care home’s failure to respond to her request for information about her late uncle’s will. This is because there are no relevant records about the case, so we could not make worthwhile enquiries or achieve a meaningful result for Miss X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman