Recent statements in this category are shown below:
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North Devon District Council (19 021 236)
Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 22-Feb-2021
Summary: Miss B complained the Council wrongly told her she would be able to claim housing benefit when she moved to North Devon. Miss B said she could not claim housing benefit when she moved, and this put her in financial difficulty. The Council was at fault for implementing the Amendment of the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014 in June 2018 before the ruling came into effect in January 2019. The Council incorrectly told Miss B her benefits would be unaffected if she moved and wrongly paid her housing benefit. This caused injustice to Miss B. The Council agreed to make a financial payment to Miss B to acknowledge the impact of its fault.
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Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council (20 004 337)
Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 19-Feb-2021
Summary: Mr B complained about the Council's handling of his claim for housing benefit and the recovery of overpayments. There was fault that caused injustice to Mr B. The Council will apologise and make a payment.
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Birmingham City Council (20 001 802)
Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 16-Feb-2021
Summary: Ms X complained about the Council's delay in processing her appeal against its decision to cancel Housing Benefit. The Council was at fault and this caused injustice to Ms X. The Council has agreed to provide a suitable remedy so we have completed our investigation.
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Westminster City Council (20 003 810)
Statement Not upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 04-Feb-2021
Summary: The Council did not give the wrong advice that Miss X could not claim housing benefit. The Council processed and paid her claims for housing benefit. There is no evidence Miss X was advised by the Council to claim Universal Credit, which she says has made her financially worse off.
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London Borough of Waltham Forest (20 002 454)
Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 28-Jan-2021
Summary: The Council was at fault for the way it calculated Mr X's housing benefit, resulting in it pursuing him for arrears. The Council has amended Mr X's rent account and applied the appropriate credits. The Council has also agreed to a financial payment to reflect the distress and uncertainty Mr X experienced.
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London Borough of Ealing (20 001 804)
Statement Not upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 06-Jan-2021
Summary: The Ombudsman does not find fault with the way the Council handled Mr B's housing benefit overpayment debt that was listed on a Debt Relief Order (DRO).
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Ipswich Borough Council (19 018 525)
Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 04-Jan-2021
Summary: Mr C complains for his client Mr D about the way the Council dealt with claims for Housing Benefit. We find no fault in respect of the substantive matters. There was fault in failing to tell Mr D during a telephone conversation that his claim had been cancelled, and there was fault in the Council's handling of the complaint. However, those faults did not lead to injustice requiring remedy.
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London Borough of Haringey (19 016 554)
Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 17-Dec-2020
Summary: Mr X complains the Council is wrongly taking recovery action regarding a Housing Benefit overpayment and hasn't dealt with his complaint properly. The Council is at fault because Mr X was not advised of his appeal right and it delayed dealing with Mr X's complaint. Mr X was not able to exercise his appeal rights. The Council has agreed to pause its recovery action and re-issue the overpayment letter to Mr X.
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Oxford City Council (19 017 366)
Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 26-Nov-2020
Summary: Mr X complained on behalf of Ms Y, the Council delayed dealing with her housing benefit appeal. The Council was at fault as it delayed passing the appeal to Tribunal. It was not at fault for reconsidering the appeal before doing so but it should have passed the appeal to tribunal when it upheld its decision after the reconsideration. This did not cause Ms Y a significant injustice as the Council did not take recovery action during the time of the appeal and Ms Y has now had her appeal. The Council should review its procedures to prevent recurrence of the fault.
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Oxford City Council (19 015 569)
Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 26-Nov-2020
Summary: Mr Y complained the Council delayed dealing with his housing benefit appeal. The Council was at fault for the delay in passing the appeal to tribunal. It was not at fault for reconsidering the appeal but was at fault for not passing the appeal to tribunal after the reconsideration. Mr Y has now had his appeal. The Council has agreed to review its procedures to prevent recurrence of the fault and to pay Mr Y £150 to acknowledge the uncertainty, distress and financial difficulties caused by the delay.