Summary: Miss X complains the Council should not have cancelled Mr Y’s benefits, it gave him incorrect advice and added unreasonable enforcement fees to Mr Y’s debt. We found the Council was not at fault.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council made incorrect decisions to cancel Mr Y’s benefits. She says they provided information the Council required and in telephone calls the Council led them to believe the issues with their claims would be resolved automatically because they were claiming Universal Credit.
2. They also complain the Council added unreasonable costs to their council tax account due to arrears they had built up. They say the problems led to financial hardship.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I spoke to Miss X and considered the complaint they raised and information they provided. I asked the Council for information and considered its response to the complaint. I sent both parties a draft decision to enable them to comment.

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What I found

The Council’s position

Benefit Claims

6. The Council told us Mr Y was in receipt of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction. I understand Mr Y’s entitlement to these benefits was based on him receiving other benefits, including Employment Support Allowance (ESA).
7. In March 2018 the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) told the Council that Mr Y’s entitlement to ESA stopped on 4 March. As Mr Y’s circumstances had changed, the Council suspended Mr Y’s benefit claim and wrote to him asking for a change of circumstances form and proof of income.
8. It appears Mr Y did not receive the Council’s letter. He called the Council at the end of March to question why his housing benefit had stopped. The Council says an officer explained the issue and asked for details of Mr Y’s income and capital.
9. On 13 April the Council ended the claim because it had not received any information from Mr Y.
10. On 20 April Mr Y visited the Council. The Council says it gave him a copy of the letter it sent him on 8 March and advised him to claim Universal Credit. The Council told us from 7 April 2018 any new claims for Housing Benefit had to be made through a Universal Credit claim.
11. Mr Y chased the situation on 24 May. In an email to the Council he stated he had been told “Housing Benefit is now sorted and to look at Universal Credit”. He also complained he was led to expect a back-payment of Housing Benefit but this had not been paid and he was now in a bad situation with his rent. The Council explained Mr Y should claim Universal Credit and Council Tax Reduction online.
12. At the end of May, Mr Y complained he had never been made aware that other benefits would end when ESA ended. He said he had not received the letter on 8 March. In respect of the advice, Mr Y disputed he had been told to claim Universal Credit. He said he was advised to claim Universal Credit, but it was not clear he needed to apply for it. He stated he had been told that Housing Benefit was sorted already and he was expecting a back payment for this.
13. On 31 May, following Mr Y’s email, the Council reversed the decision to end his Housing Benefit claim and the Council Tax Reduction claim. The Council stated because Mr Y had explained on 20 April that his only income was Child Benefit and Tax Credit, his claims should have been reinstated, based on this known income.
• Housing Benefit was paid for the period 12 March to 11 June. The Council noted a Universal Credit claim had been made which would then run on when this Housing Benefit claim ended. The total back-payment of Housing Benefit was £1317.18.
• Council Tax Reduction was also paid, backdated to 12 March. The Council noted this would need be reviewed when Universal Credit started.
14. On 16 July the Council asked Mr Y to provide the details of his Universal Credit award so it could re-assess his Council Tax Reduction claim taking this into account.
15. On 1 August the Council sent a reminder. It stated if the information could not be sent within 7 days the Council may decide Mr Y was no longer eligible for Council Tax Reduction and the benefit may cease. The Council says it received no information, so it stopped Council Tax Reduction payments backdated to June 2018 when Universal Credit started.
16. In October 2018 and in January 2019 the Council received evidence of Mr Y’s Universal Credit claim. It wrote to him on each occasion inviting him to make a fresh claim for Council Tax Reduction.
17. In or around January 2019 Mr Y emailed the Council about council tax arrears. The Council explained that full Council Tax Reduction was not being paid, so Mr Y had some council tax to pay. It explained Council Tax Reduction ceased because the Council asked for evidence of his Universal Credit claim but did not receive it. Mr Y explained he had been unwell.
18. On 28 March Mr Y said he was finding the online claim form difficult to complete. The Council offered to help take a claim over the telephone.
19. On 18 April 2019 Mr Y responded, thanking the Council for the offer of assistance. On 26 April, the Council called Mr Y and completed a new Council Tax Reduction claim for him. It followed up with a letter asking for the evidence of his Universal Credit claim back to 4 March 2019. It stated the information would be available to Mr Y on his online Universal Credit account.
20. Mr Y provided information on 1 May. The Council asked Mr Y for the most up to date Universal Credit claim details from 27 March 2019.
21. In May Mr Y chased progress on his Council Tax Reduction claim and made a complaint. In his complaint Mr Y stated he had been passed from pillar to post and he had been given conflicting information. He says at various points someone at the council told him everything was sorted but it was not.
22. The Council explained to Mr Y what its records showed about contact with him and about his claims. It considered it acted appropriately.
23. In June the Council chased Mr Y for the information it needed for his Council Tax Reduction claim. Mr Y sent more information on 13 June. The Council explained on 19 June that it still didn’t have all the information required. On 28 June, 10 July and 19 July the Council set out information it needed.
24. After Mr Y visited the Council and supplied bank statements, it decided there was sufficient information to decide the claim back to 1 April 2019. On 29 July the Council decided the claim and sent a decision notice.
25. In July the Council also responded at Stage Two of the complaints process. Mr Y had complained he did not receive the letter requesting information in August 2018. The Council confirmed this had been sent. Mr Y also complained that following the letter of 29 October 2018 and 17 January 2019 he spoke to someone at the Council. He says they told him there was no need to claim Council Tax Reduction separately as Council Tax Reduction was encompassed within his Universal Credit and was all one benefit.
26. While dealing with the complaint the Council asked Mr Y for details of when he called and who he spoke to. Unfortunately, Mr Y could not provide this. The Council’s complaint response stated there were no notes on the benefits system to indicate Mr Y spoke to someone there. It stated without any details of who Mr Y had spoken to and when, it could not check what he said. The Council noted a hold had been placed on the recovery of council tax arrears at various points.

Council Tax Arrears

27. Mr Y has a historic council tax debt from 2016/17. This is not part of the events subject to complaint.
28. Because Council Tax Reduction stopped in August 2018 (with effect from June 2018), Mr Y’s council tax account for 2018/19 also fell into arrears. Due to the arrears, the Council obtained a liability order in January 2019. It sent a seven‑day letter to Mr Y advising him of this. It says it received no response, so the 2018/19 debt, along with the previous debt from 2016/17 were passed to bailiffs. Standard enforcement fees have been added since.
29. The Council explained it had put the recovery of the debts on hold during our investigation.

Mr Y’s complaint to us

30. Miss X told us that Mr Y had not received the Council’s original letter of 8 March, but he had responded to requests for information from the Council subsequently. She stated he visited the Council to do so on 20 April.
31. After Mr Y’s visit in April Miss X says they expected their claim to be reinstated immediately. They complain this did not happen.
32. Miss X says Mr Y did not receive the letter from the Council in August 2018 requesting more information. After April, they believed the matter was resolved, until they received a summons in October 2018. Miss X and Mr Y say in January 2019 officers referred to a system error and his council tax bill was being written off. The Council has no record of an error.
33. A key part of Miss X’s complaint is what she and Mr Y were told over the telephone. They say initially the importance of claiming Universal Credit was not explained to them. Miss X also complains that she and Mr Y had spoken to officers at various times and they had been told that they need not take action as their Universal Credit claim would encompass all their benefits.
34. Miss X says, separately, there were issues with Mr Y’s Universal Credit claim. Mr Y took this up with the Job Centre as this benefit is administered by the Department for Work and Pensions, rather than the Council.
35. Unfortunately, Miss X and Mr Y could not provide the Council with information about who they spoke to or when. There is no evidence available to us that records the discussions with the Council that Miss X and Mr Y refer to. So, we do not have evidence to show what was said.

Enforcement Agent Fees

36. When enforcement agents are engaged by a council, they follow a specific process. The first stage is the Compliance Stage. At this stage the bailiff must send a notice of enforcement to the debtor and allow seven days for response. Once a bailiff makes a first visit to the debtor, the compliance stage is over and the enforcement stage has begun.
37. The fees charged by enforcement agents (bailiffs) are set out in Fee Regulations. Bailiffs may charge £75 at the compliance stage of the process. This may be charged for each warrant they hold for a particular debtor. In this instance there were two separate Liability Orders, and two separate debts to follow up, so two charges of £75 could be made.
38. At the enforcement stage only one charge may be made if they can reasonably be expected to exercise their duties for both accounts at the same time. The fee at the enforcement stage is £235.
39. The Council explained the enforcement fees added to Mr Y’s account. A charge of £75 was made for each of the Liability Orders on 12 April. On 1 May, a total charge of £235 was made in respect of a visit. This fee was spread across the two Liability Orders proportionate to the debt outstanding. £28.28 was added to the debt from 2016/2017 and £206.72 was added to the debt form 2018/2019.
40. Miss X and Mr Y felt the enforcement charges of £75 and £235 added to the council tax account were unreasonable and should not have been added.

Was there fault by the Council?

41. The key issues Miss X and Mr Y raised were that correspondence sent by the Council was not received by them, and they were given inaccurate or unclear advice. They felt the advice led them to believe Mr Y need not claim Universal Credit and they need not take any action to restore Mr Y’s Council Tax Reduction Claim. They felt, as a result, the Council was wrong to stop paying benefits to Mr Y.
42. The letter sent by the Council in March 2018 explained that information was needed to continue and review Mr Y’s benefit entitlements. As the Council did not receive a reply, it stopped the claims in April 2018. Councils are entitled to seek up to date information about the circumstances of claimants and to suspend or cease claims if this is not received. This was not fault.
43. It took some time between 20 April when Mr Y visited the Council and supplied information and 31 May when the Council restarted Mr Y’s claims. However, I do not consider the time taken was significant enough to be considered fault by the Council.
44. In August the Council was entitled to seek information about Mr Y’s Universal Credit claim and to stop benefits again when this was not received.
45. I recognise Miss X and Mr Y did not receive some of the Council’s correspondence, but I do not consider this was due to any fault by the Council. The Council supplied copies of its correspondence and I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that these letters were sent.
46. There is no evidence to show who Miss X and Mr Y spoke to at the Council about the benefits claims or what was said to them. As a result, I cannot conclude, on the balance of probabilities, they were given flawed advice.
47. I investigated the enforcement fees added to Mr Y’s debt by enforcement agents. I found the fees added were in accordance with the regulations. There was no fault in respect of this.

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Final decision

48. We found no fault by the Council. I have now completed my investigation and closed my file.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman