London Borough of Wandsworth (21 004 351)
Category : Adult care services > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 02 Nov 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an error by the Council in collecting direct debt payments for its telephone alarm helpline service. This is because an investigation would be unlikely to lead to an outcome significantly different to that already provided by the Council.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, complains on his and his father’s behalf about an error by the Council in collecting payment by direct debit for its telephone alarm helpline service. Mr X seeks a write off of the whole debt.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X, including the Council’s response to his complaint.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Due to a Council system error, the direct debit Mr X had in place to pay for his father’s telephone alarm helpline service was not collected for a number of months. The error was not picked up until after Mr X’s father had received a demand for payment.
- In response to Mr X’s complaint about the matter, the Council apologised, introduced measures to detect system failures in the future and offered three months free service.
- While Mr X is dissatisfied with the Council’s response and seeks the write off of the whole debt which accrued over nearly 10 months, an investigation by the Ombudsman would be unlikely to lead to an outcome significantly different to that already provided by the Council. For this reason, we will not investigate the complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because an investigation would be unlikely to lead to an outcome significantly different to that already provided by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman