Recent statements in this category are shown below:
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London Borough of Richmond upon Thames (19 021 123)
Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 24-Nov-2020
Summary: Mr X complains the Council delayed sending his request for a review of his housing benefit decision to the tribunal. We have completed our investigation. The Council accepts it was at fault and has identified a suitable remedy. It agrees to pay Mr X £275. We have recommended further action to remedy injustice to others who have not complained.
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Bristol City Council (20 001 663)
Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 19-Nov-2020
Summary: The Council wrongly told Miss X it owed her a large amount of money. The Council caused injustice as Miss X borrowed money from family and friends in expectation of the payment before the Council told her it had made a mistake. Miss X struggled to pay back the loans. To put this right the Council will pay Miss X £150 in recognition of the trouble and distress it caused her.
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Southampton City Council (19 017 103)
Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 11-Nov-2020
Summary: Mr X complains about the Council's decision to cancel his housing benefit. The Ombudsman has found fault by the Council causing Mr X injustice. It has agreed to remedy this by apologising, refunding cost courts of £446 and paying Mr X £250 to reflect the avoidable upset, time and trouble its faults caused him.
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Oxford City Council (19 015 596)
Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 11-Nov-2020
Summary: Mr X complained on behalf of Mr Y, 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. This did not cause Mr Y a significant injustice as the Council did not take recovery action while awaiting the appeal and Mr Y has now had his appeal. The Council should review its procedures to prevent recurrence of the fault.
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Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 13-Oct-2020
Summary: Mr X complains about the Council's decision not to award him discretionary housing payment, causing him to fall into rent arears. The Ombudsman finds fault with the Council as it has not properly considered Mr X's transport costs and wrongly advised him public transport costs are not allowed for people not working. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr X and reconsider his application for discretionary housing payment.
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London Borough of Newham (19 014 134)
Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 05-Oct-2020
Summary: Mrs X complained about the affordability of her temporary accommodation and the Council's decisions regarding her housing benefit and a discretionary housing payment applications. The Council was at fault. It failed to consider Mrs X's housing benefit appeal request and failed to advise Mrs X that it had awarded her a discretionary housing payment. The Council has since written to Mrs X to advise her of the award and has reconsidered her housing benefit application so there is no outstanding injustice to Mrs X. It remains open to Mrs X to appeal the housing benefit decision if she disagrees with it.
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Blackpool Borough Council (19 016 842)
Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 30-Sep-2020
Summary: Mr X complains the Council delayed in deciding he was not eligible for housing benefit and then changed its decision but did not tell him it had done so. The Council delayed in deciding about Mr X's eligibility for housing benefit. This meant Mr X's experienced unnecessary distress. The Council will apologise to Mr X and pay him £150 to remedy the distress he experienced.
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Hart District Council (20 002 130)
Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 29-Sep-2020
Summary: The Ombudsman cannot and will not investigate Mrs X's complaint that the Council invoiced her for overpaid housing and council tax benefits for several years. This is because Mrs X has already appealed to the tribunal about her housing benefit claim and an investigation of the other issues would be unlikely to achieve a significantly different outcome as the Council has offered an appropriate remedy.
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London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (19 016 200)
Statement Not upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 28-Sep-2020
Summary: Mr X complains the Council delayed in telling his father he was not eligible for housing benefit and to instead apply for Universal Credit. The Ombudsman does not find fault with the Council's actions.
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Newcastle upon Tyne City Council (19 002 490)
Statement Upheld Housing benefit and council tax benefit 23-Sep-2020
Summary: The Council told Miss X it would pay her £414.24 a month directly in housing benefit if she gave a tenancy to someone it was supporting. This did not happen as the property is in a Universal Credit area and Miss X received no rent. The Council ignored Miss X's step 1 complaint, took five months to reply to her at step 2 and never responded at step 3 despite assuring the Ombudsman that it would. The Council will pay Miss X the money it said she would receive and make a payment for the distress, time and trouble it caused her.