Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions concerning Ms X’s relative, Mr Y. This is because Ms X did not have legal authority to represent Mr Y at the time the complaint matters arose.

The complaint

1. Ms X says the Council provided the wrong information about her relative’s (Mr Y) rent account. She says this caused costs of £849.60 to be charged to Mr Y by her relative’s previous deputy in trying to resolve the issues.
2. She would like the charges to be paid back by the Council. And she would like to be paid for her time and trouble taken to complain.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We may investigate complaints made on behalf of someone else if they have given their consent. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(1), as amended)
4. 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

5. I considered information provided by the complainant that includes the Council’s complaint response.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Ms X became a Court of Protection appointed deputy authorised to represent her relative’s property and affairs in September 2019.
8. She complains about fees incurred by the previous deputy when liaising with Council staff to resolve Mr Y’s housing benefit and rent issues between 2017 - 2018.
9. The Council has investigated, rectified its error and apologised.
10. I will not investigate as the complaint matters relate to a period when Ms X had no legal authority to represent her relative to bring this complaint. And also, the complaint has been made late concerning historic matters lying outside of the Ombudsman’s usual time frame for investigating.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because she was not Mr Y’s legal representative at the time the complaint matters arose.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman