Housing benefit and council tax benefit

Recent statements in this category are shown below:

  • Sheffield City Council (18 011 905)

    Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 02-Jul-2019

    Summary: Ms Y complained about Council errors in her benefits payments, which it then asked her to repay. She also complained about the Council's poor communication about the issue. We uphold Ms Y's complaint. The Council made errors in handling her council tax support and housing benefit claims. These caused Ms Y upset, confusion and inconvenience. To remedy this the Council have agreed to give Ms Y a clear statement of where her situation now stands and confirm it will not seek to recover the discretionary housing payment of £200.

  • Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council (18 016 531)

    Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 01-Jul-2019

    Summary: Mr X complains about the way the Council handled a housing benefit overpayment. He says this caused him financial hardship and stress. The Ombudsman is not able to investigate complaints where there is a right to appeal to a tribunal. However, we can investigate how a council administers the process. The Ombudsman finds the Council at fault for giving Mr X incorrect information about the reason it decided there had been an overpayment. This caused Mr X injustice. The Council has issued a fresh decision notice meaning Mr X has fresh appeal rights. The Council has also apologised to Mr X. The Ombudsman is satisfied that this remedies the injustice to Mr X.

  • London Borough of Ealing (18 010 128)

    Statement Not upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 28-Jun-2019

    Summary: Mr B says the Council misled him about the checks it had undertaken on a tenant referred to him, failed to pay him a two-year rent guarantee and failed to check the property for damages. There is no fault in how the Council handled this case.

  • Warrington Council (18 018 151)

    Statement Not upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 11-Jun-2019

    Summary: Miss B complained about the actions of the Council in recovering a housing benefit overpayment by an attachment of earnings. She says this is causing her financial hardship and is unfair. We find no fault with the actions of the Council.

  • Eastbourne Borough Council (18 013 737)

    Statement Not upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 07-Jun-2019

    Summary: Miss B complains the Council failed to advise her that she needed to claim Universal Credit to get help with housing costs. The Ombudsman finds the Council did appropriately advise Miss B on this matter when it wrote to her within a reasonable time of receiving her claim form for housing benefit. Although Miss B did not receive the letter, that was not as a result of fault by the Council.

  • Taunton Deane Borough Council (18 010 686)

    Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 31-May-2019

    Summary: There was fault in how the Council dealt with Mrs B's housing situation. It did not do enough to make sure her emergency accommodation was suitable. This meant that Mrs B's father found and paid for her emergency accommodation. The Council also failed to set out how she could appeal against decisions on her housing benefit or escalate her complaint. The Council has agreed to pay Mrs B in recognition of the distress it caused her, pay her father the accommodation costs it would have met, and review its processes to make sure this does not recur.

  • Luton Borough Council (18 013 132)

    Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 30-May-2019

    Summary: Mr X complains the Council is seeking to recover overpayments of housing benefit it previously considered to be non recoverable. The Council did not agree that all overpayments of housing benefit paid to Mr X were non recoverable. But the Council is at fault as it failed to recover the overpayments from Mr X between 2015 and 2018. Mr X was caused some shock as he received an unexpected bill for the overpayments in 2018. The Council has agreed to remedy Mr X's injustice by apologising to him and arranging a reasonable repayment plan with Mr X.

  • Huntingdonshire District Council (18 015 605)

    Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 29-May-2019

    Summary: Mrs B complained about the Council saying she had received too much benefit. The Council was at fault for taking too long to refer Mrs B's appeal to the Tribunal. That caused Mrs B unnecessarily prolonged uncertainty. To put matters right, the Council agreed to apologise, pay £100, complete an audit to identify similar cases and improve its practices. We do not criticise the Council for not changing some of its decisions about Mrs B's benefits sooner.

  • Hartlepool Borough Council (18 016 709)

    Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 29-May-2019

    Summary: Mr X complained about the Council's handling of his application for discretionary housing payments. The Council did not properly decide Mr X's and some other people's applications. This caused Mr X a missed opportunity, uncertainty and frustration. The Council agreed to put right the resulting injustice, including by reconsidering Mr X's and the other affected applications and paying £150.

  • Birmingham City Council (18 017 737)

    Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 28-May-2019

    Summary: The Council paid housing benefit to a tenant when it should have paid it to the landlord. The tenant did not pass the money on and left the property. To remedy the injustice it caused, the Council will pay the landlord the same amount it paid the tenant in housing benefit.