Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her housing benefit and council tax reduction. This is because, at our invitation, the Council agreed to make a symbolic payment to Mrs X. We consider this to be a suitable remedy.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council did not action its own letter about amending her claim and delayed providing responses to her.
2. Mrs X also complained the Council caused confusion by completing incorrect assessments and giving her wrong information, which caused delays. Mrs X said this meant she had to repay a large overpayment.

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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 provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended).

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. For the point about the Council not actioning its letter, the Council sent the letter to Mrs X in July 2023 asking her to provide information. The Council said if Mrs X did not respond within 14 days, it would amend her council tax reduction claim.
7. Mrs X said she responded to provide the information. The Council said it has no record of receiving a letter from Mrs X providing the information and it has no record it issued a response to confirm it had received it.
8. Mrs X said she was not aware of the amendment to her claim for council tax reduction until November 2024 when the Council sent her another letter.
9. On balance, it is unlikely that there will be sufficient evidence two years later of whether Mrs X sent the letter or whether the Council received it. It would be disproportionate for us to try to investigate this now.
10. The Council accepts it later assessed Mrs X’s council tax reduction wrongly and gave Mrs X wrong information. The Council also accepts its responses to Mrs X were delayed on occasion and it delayed some assessments. The Council said it is reviewing its procedures to reduce the chance of repeating these problems.
11. If we investigated these points, it is likely we would find the Council at fault, which caused Mrs X injustice.
12. The Council has recalculated and backdated the changes to Mrs X’s council tax account and has credited her account £523.25. Mrs X told us she believed that calculation was correct. We welcomed that, but we considered some more remedy was needed. We therefore asked the Council to consider remedying the injustice caused to Mrs X by making a symbolic payment to resolve the complaint early.

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Agreed action

13. To its credit, the Council agreed to resolve the complaint and will pay Mrs X £200 within one month of today to put things right. This is to recognise the confusion, stress and inconvenience caused by the Council’s delay, wrong assessments and wrong information.
14. The Council will also give the Ombudsman details of its reviews of its procedures within two months of today.

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Final decision

15. We have upheld this complaint because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Mrs X and improving its service for others.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman