Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint the Care Provider lost a wedding photo album belonging to her and her late husband. The complaint is late, and there is not a good reason she did not complain to us sooner.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Care Provider lost or disposed of a wedding photo album belonging to her and her late husband. This caused her significant distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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

3. I considered the information Mrs X provided when she complained to us.
4. I considered Mrs X’s comments on my draft decision.

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What I found

5. Mrs X’s husband, Mr X, lived in a care home and passed away in late 2018. On collecting Mr X’s possessions, Mrs X found their wedding photo album was missing. She discussed this with the Care Provider from December 2018 onwards and complained to the Ombudsman in September 2020.
6. We cannot investigate complaints made to us more than 12 months after the person became aware of the matter, unless there are good reasons they did not complain to us sooner.
7. Mrs X says she contacted the Ombudsman at some point in 2019, although there is not a record to say when this was as it was an informal advice call. Mrs X says we told her she needed to make a formal complaint to the Care Provider first, and she could come back to us after doing so. I have taken this into account when considering the timescales between events and Mrs X complaining to us.
8. Mrs X then made a formal complaint to the Care Provider in March 2020. She did not receive a reply. The Care Provider could have responded and signposted her to the Ombudsman at some point during their conversations, if it was of the view it had dealt with her complaint. I have therefore also accounted for this when considering the timescales.
9. However, there are also three periods where Mrs X let the matter lie for five months at a time. Her formal complaint was at least three months after speaking to us, although it could have been longer as we cannot say when her informal advice call with the Ombudsman occurred. Mrs X has not provided a good reason that explains the entire 21 month period between December 2018 and September 2020.
10. In any event, it is unlikely we could now say what had happened to the photo album. Therefore, even if we exercised discretion on the time issue above, it is unlikely we would find fault in the Care Provider’s actions, or be able to achieve a meaningful remedy, and so we would likely decide we should not now investigate this complaint for other reasons.

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Final decision

11. The Ombudsman will not investigate this late complaint. This is because there is not a good reason Mrs X did not complain to us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman