Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s failings when claiming benefits as his appointee and when responding to his complaint. We found fault with the Council. This fault caused injustice to Mr X. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X and make a payment to recognise his financial loss. The Council has also agreed to carry out some service improvements.

The complaint

1. Ms Y, acting for Mr X, complains the Council:
• failed to apply for a Personal Independent Payment (PIP) for Mr X between April 2023 and December 2024;
• delayed updating Mr X’s Universal Credit (UC) claim;
• failed in the way it dealt with Ms Y’s complaint.
2. Ms Y says the Council’s failings meant that Mr X did not receive the benefits he was entitled to and suffered financial loss. He was distressed by the housing association correspondence about rent arrears.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 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)
5. When considering complaints we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.
6. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(1), as amended)

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What I have investigated

7. I have decided to investigate the Council’s actions from March 2023, when Mr X’s previous PIP claim ended. This is because there are good reasons to investigate events, which happened more than 12 months from when Ms Y brought Mr X’s complaint to us. Until September 2024 Mr X was unaware that in March 2023 his PIP claim had ended and that the Council had failed to make a new application on his behalf.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered evidence provided by Ms Y and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
9. Ms Y and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Law and guidance

Appointeeship

10. Where a person is, or may be, entitled to benefit but they are unable for the time being to act, the Secretary of State may appoint somebody to exercise on behalf of this person any right to which they may be entitled. (The Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker's Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2013, Regulation 57 (1) and (4))
11. As an appointee councils are responsible for making and maintaining any benefit claims. They must tell the benefit office about any changes which affect how much the claimant gets.

Income disregard

12. The mobility component of Personal Independence Payments will be fully disregarded from the financial assessment. (Care and Support Statutory Guidance updated 2025, Annex C, paragraph 15)

Complaints

13. The Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009 (the Regulations) specifies the way councils should deal with complaints about Adult Social Care services. Councils should:
• investigate complaints in a manner appropriate to resolve them speedily and efficiently and keep complainants informed about the progress of the investigation;
• provide their response in writing within the agreed period but no longer than six months, unless a longer period is agreed between the council and the complainant;
• confirm whether any action is needed to be taken or is proposed to be taken.

What happened

Background

14. On Mr X leaving care the Council took the role of an appointee to manage Mr X’s benefits. The Council’s Client Finance team carried out this role.
15. In mid-March 2023 the Department for Work and Pensions told the Council Mr X would stop receiving PIP as the Council, acting for Mr X, had failed to fill in and return a form reviewing the award. Mr X’s PIP consisted of a daily living component and a mobility component.

UC and PIP from September 2024

16. At the beginning of September 2024 the Council’s employee who was supporting Mr X during transition from the children’s services to the Adult Social Care services (Officer 1) asked the Client finance team why Mr X had not been receiving PIP.
17. Two weeks later Officer 1 wrote again telling the Client finance team that Mr X would be moving to a Housing Association flat (the Flat) and asked for support in updating Mr X’s UC and Housing Benefit once a new tenancy agreement was available. Officer 1 raised again the issue of PIP.
18. Mr X moved to the new accommodation in the second part of October 2024.
19. In mid-October Officer 1 asked the Client finance team about the update on Mr X’s PIP and amendments to his Housing Benefit in view of the new tenancy. The Client finance team replied it had been waiting for the response about PIP and for a decision after reporting Mr X’s new tenancy.
20. A few days later Mr X’s personal assistant (PA) asked the Client finance team to check Mr X’s UC housing element as the Housing Association had warned Mr X he would be getting into arrears. There was some further correspondence about Mr X’s benefits.
21. In the second week of December a meeting took place to discuss Mr X’s financial situation. An officer from the Client Finance team (Officer 2) confirmed she was trying to get Mr X’s PIP backdated. She also stated she had started the process of claiming housing element of Mr X’s Universal Credit.
22. A day after the meeting Officer 2 called the Department for Work and Pensions to update Mr X’s PIP claim.
23. At the beginning of January 2025 Mr X received the UC letter explaining he was entitled to UC from 6 December 2024 to 5 January 2025. He had already been paid part of £1,377 and would now receive the remaining part.
24. In mid-March 2025 Officer 1 talked to Mr X’s brother. Mr X’s brother wanted to get some home furniture for Mr X but had to wait for the resolution of his benefit claims.
25. In mid-April 2025 a nurse from the Department for Work and Pensions called to get more information needed for Mr X’s PIP application.
26. In the second week of July Mr X received a PIP letter from the Department for Work and Pensions asking for further information.
27. In mid-September 2025 Mr X was awarded PIP, backdated to 12 December 2024. Mr X received enhanced rate for daily living needs and enhanced rate of £75 a week for his mobility needs.
28. In September 2025 the Council carried out Mr X’s financial assessment. When calculating Mr X’s maximum weekly charge the Council disregarded the mobility component of his PIP.
29. In response to my enquiries the Council explained that although Mr X signed the tenancy agreement for the Flat from the beginning of October 2024, he only moved there three weeks later. For the first three weeks of October the UC housing element was covering rent for the accommodation where Mr X continued living. Therefore Mr X was not entitled to the UC Housing benefit towards rent in the Flat for the first three weeks of October 2024 which amounted to £567.28. For the period from 21 October to 5 December 2024 Mr X owed the Housing Association £1,459.61. He received £748.23 as an overpayment from the previous tenancy and received an extra payment of housing benefit of £748, which meant that he had to pay £144.10 from his own funds. The Council offered to pay £711.38 to Mr X as a goodwill gesture to cover the rental costs incurred by him.

Complaint

30. In mid-December Ms Y, acting for Mr X, complained to the Council. Among the matters raised was the lack of PIP payments for Mr X since 2022 and the Council’s failure to update Mr X’s UC claim with the details of his new tenancy. This meant, she said, that Mr X suffered financial loss and incurred rent arrears.
31. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaint in mid-January 2025. It stated that although Mr X’s PIP stopped in March 2023, the Council was not aware of this and there were no records from the Department for Work and Pensions telling the Council about any changes. The Council only heard from Mr X that he had stopped receiving PIP when Mr X was changing his accommodation in the autumn 2024. Once alerted, the Client finance team restarted PIP and UC claims for Mr X. The Council confirmed the Housing Association would not send any more correspondence to Mr X about the rent arrears and all rent arrears would be covered once UC was awarded.
32. After Ms Y queried the Council’s response, the Council sent another response to her in mid-February 2025. The Council admitted the Client Finance team had failed to apply for PIP for Mr X from April 2023 to December 2024. The Council said it was urgently addressing this issue to decide whether Mr X suffered financial loss and would write to Mr X with a resolution by 4 March 2025.
33. Ms Y contacted the Council several times in March and April 2025 as the Council had failed to send its resolution by the beginning of March. In mid-April Ms Y asked the Council to escalate her complaint to stage two.
34. The Council apologised for the delay in responding to Ms Y a month later. To assess any possible financial loss on Mr X’s part the Council needed to get a decision on the PIP claim made in December 2024 and on the UC backdate. It was still waiting for these decisions.
35. In the second part of May 2025 Ms Y brought her complaint to us.

Analysis

The Council as Mr X’s appointee

36. As Mr X’s appointee the Council had a duty to apply for his PIP once the previous claim ended in March 2023 and to update Mr X’s UC claim due to his change of accommodation. The Council failed by:
• not claiming PIP for Mr X in March 2023;
• delay in claiming PIP even after Officer 1 raised this issue with the Client Finance team in September 2024;
• delay in updating Mr X’s UC claim.
37. The Council’s failings are fault. This fault caused injustice to Mr X. He suffered financial loss as from April 2023 to December 2024 he did not receive PIP. Although the daily living component of PIP would have been included in the Council’s financial assessment and would have been contributing towards Mr X’s care charges, the enhanced mobility component would have been disregarded. Because Mr X had been receiving PIP enhanced mobility component up to March 2023 and was entitled to it after the Council applied again in December 2024, it is more likely that not that if the Council had applied for PIP in March 2023, Mr X would have received it.
38. The Council’s delay in updating Mr X’s UC claim meant that for some weeks he did not receive housing benefit for rent in the Flat. He had to pay it from his own funds. This was Mr X’s financial loss resulting from the Council’s fault. This fault also caused distress to Mr X as he was upset by the Housing Association letters about rent arrears. This would not have happened if the Council had updated Mr X’s UC claim at the right time. The Council’s offer to reimburse Mr X’s expenses for the rent in the Flat from the beginning of his tenancy to 5 December 2024 is an appropriate personal remedy.

Complaint handling

39. Our Adult Social Care Complaints, Reviews and Appeals: A good practice guide for local authorities issued in 2025 explains what we see as good practice when councils respond to complaints about their Adult Social Care services. After acknowledging the complaint councils should try to resolve it at an early resolution stage. If this proves impossible, councils should take a closer look at the issues raised and provide a final response that signposts the complainant to the Ombudsman. We accept that councils may decide to adopt different processes to meet the requirements of the Regulations.
40. When responding to Ms Y’s complaint, brought on behalf of Mr X, the Council failed to provide the acceptable standard of service. This is because:
• the Council’s first complaint response contained factual errors;
• the Council failed to keep to its commitment made in the second complaint response from February 2025;
• the Council failed to keep Ms Y updated about the progress of its investigation and reasons for the delays.
41. The Council’s failings when dealing with Mr X’s complaint are fault. They caused injustice to Mr X as he was distressed at the lack of resolution and the lack of accountability.

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Action

42. To remedy the injustice caused by the faults identified, we recommend the Council complete within four weeks of the final decision the following:
• apologise to Mr X and for the injustice caused to him by the faults identified. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended;
• pay £7,106.63 to Mr X. This sum consists of £711.38 offered by the Council to refund rent charges paid by Mr X and £6,395.25 which is the enhanced rate of the PIP mobility component Mr X would, if not for the Council’s fault, have likely received between April 2023 and the beginning of December 2024.

The Council will provide the evidence that this has happened.

43. We also recommend the Council within three months of the final decision:
• review record keeping in its Client Finance team to ensure all correspondence from the Department for Work and Pensions is filed and responded to;
• remind its staff responding to the Adult Social Care complaints about the need to keep complainants updated about any progress and about difficulties in keeping to the timescales. The complaint-handling staff will review our Adult Social Care Complaints, Reviews and Appeals: A good practice guide for local authorities.

The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

44. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has accepted my recommendations, so this investigation is at an end.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman