Birmingham City Council (18 011 576)

Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 12 Apr 2019

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Mr X complains that the Council started paying housing benefit directly to him without telling him. He says because of this, he spent this money on other things. He also complains that the Council did not log his complaint. He says he spent time and trouble resolving his complaint. The Ombudsman finds fault with the Council which caused Mr X injustice. The Ombudsman is satisfied with the actions the Council has taken to remedy the faults: it has apologised to Mr X, addressed faults with individual staff members, raised the issue with its software provider, and will review its procedures with staff to ensure consistency across departments.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr X, complains that the Council did not tell him it had started paying housing benefit into his bank account. He says this led to him spending the money on other things. He says he had to borrow money as a result, and has spent time and trouble trying to resolve the issue.
  2. Mr X also complains that the Council did not log his complaint. He says he spent time and trouble trying to resolve his complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
  2. 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

  1. I considered the information and documents provided by Mr X and the Council. I spoke to Mr X about his complaint. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on an earlier draft of this statement. I considered all comments before I reached a final decision.

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What I found

  1. Councils are responsible for administering housing benefits. In some cases, people can apply to have their housing benefit paid directly to them, rather than their landlords. Councils must tell people about their decisions in writing.
  2. The Council’s policy is to send notification letters to people when there has been a change in circumstances around their housing benefit.

Complaints procedure

  1. The Council has a three-stage corporate complaints procedure. Once a person has made a complaint, the Council will acknowledge the complaint and give the person a reference number. The Council will investigate the complaint fully.
  2. If the complaint cannot be resolved satisfactorily at the initial stage, a person can ask for their complaint to be escalated to stage two of the procedure. The Council will send its response within 15 working days.
  3. If the complainant is dissatisfied with the response, they can ask to escalate the complaint to the third stage of the complaints procedure. The Council will respond within 20 working days.
  4. If the complainant remains dissatisfied, they will be signposted to the Ombudsman.

What happened

  1. In May 2018, Mr X called the Council and asked the Council to pay his housing benefit directly to him, rather than to his landlord. Mr X gave the Council his bank details.
  2. In June, Mr X called the Council to chase up his request. The Council advised him to put his request in writing.
  3. Mr X called the Council the next day. The Council told Mr X it needed to check with his landlord before it could agree to his request.
  4. A week later, the Council processed Mr X’s request.
  5. From mid-June, the Council paid Mr X’s housing benefit directly into his bank account.
  6. In July, Mr X complained to the Council because he had noticed that his housing benefit was being paid into his account but the Council had not notified him. The officer Mr X spoke to said that his complaint had been logged.
  7. In September, Mr X called the Council to chase up his complaint because he had not had a reply. The Council could not find a record of Mr X’s complaint.
  8. Two days later, the Council called Mr X. It said he should have noticed that his bank balance was higher. Mr X said he had noticed, which is why he called. The Council said it would log his complaint, and gave him a reference number.
  9. At the end of September, the Council issued its stage two response to Mr X. It said the first officer Mr X spoke to in May should have told him to put his request in writing.
  10. It said the third officer Mr X spoke to should have contacted the relevant department to see if his request could be actioned without having to put his request in writing.
  11. The Council said it made the relevant checks with his landlord then actioned his request. The Council questioned why this had been done when the usual procedure is for the request to be put in writing.
  12. It said when Mr X called to complain in July, the officer did not log his complaint.
  13. The Council said that Mr X had been given conflicting information, and understood that he would have expected confirmation of the change before any payments were made. It apologised for giving him conflicting information, for the confusion that caused, and for Mr X’s repeated calls to sort it out.
  14. The Council said it had spoken to all staff who had spoken to Mr X, and their errors had been discussed individually with them. The Council said it had also arranged more training for staff.
  15. A few days later, Mr X asked for his complaint to be escalated to stage three.
  16. The Council responded at the end of October. The Council said Mr X was solely responsible for the management of his finances. It did not agree with Mr X that he should be compensated for what the Council called an ‘avoidable situation’.
  17. The Council accepted that it gave Mr X conflicting advice and that it did not follow up on his complaint.
  18. A few days later, Mr X complained to the Ombudsman.

Analysis

Housing benefit

  1. The Council generated a letter to Mr X which notified him of the payment change. However, it did not send the letter until a month later, in mid-July. By this time, the Council had already paid three payments into Mr X’s bank account.
  2. The Council accepts that this letter was not sent in good time. The Council does not know why the letter was not sent. It has asked its software supplier to investigate this.
  3. The Council did not send the letter to Mr X in good time. This is fault. This fault caused Mr X injustice because of the uncertainty it caused.
  4. The Council recognises that the contact centre advised Mr X to put his request in writing, but his request was processed without a written request. This is fault. This fault caused Mr X injustice because he was told he would not get the payments, but then got the payments without any notification.
  5. The Council says this complaint has shown the need for different departments to use relevant procedures more consistently. It says it will review its procedures in light of this complaint. This is positive.
  6. While the Council is at fault for not telling Mr X it had started to make payments directly to him, I also find that Mr X bears some responsibility for managing his own finances. He was given conflicting information, which could have highlighted to Mr X the need to check his bank account.
  7. The Council’s stage two response apologised to Mr X for giving him conflicting information, for causing confusion, and for his repeated calls to the Council to resolve the situation.

Complaint handling

  1. The Council did not log Mr X’s complaint in July, did not give him a reference number, and did not acknowledge it. The Council accepts that it did not handle Mr X’s complaint in line with its procedures.
  2. The Council’s stage two response accepts that it was at fault for the way it initially handled Mr X’s complaint. The Council has addressed the faults with the individual staff members involved, and arranged more staff training. I have seen evidence of this, and I am satisfied that the Council has taken appropriate action to make sure lessons are learnt from the failures in this case.

Agreed action

  1. The Council apologised to Mr X in its stage two response for the faults in both the housing benefit payments and the complaint handling. The Council has taken action to address the poor complaint handling with individual staff members, and arranged staff training. The Council has also raised the problem (of the letter not being sent) with its software provider to investigate.
  2. It is my view that these are satisfactory remedies for the injustice caused to Mr X by these faults.
  3. The Council says it will review its procedures so that the processing team and contact centre staff follow the same procedures consistently. This is positive. The Council has agreed to complete this review within three months of this decision.
  4. The Ombudsman will need to see evidence that this been completed.

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Final decision

  1. I have completed my investigation and uphold Mr X’s complaint. I find that Mr X has been caused an injustice by the Council’s actions. I am satisfied that the Council’s actions (see paragraph 39) are suitable remedies for the injustice caused by the fault. The Council will also review its procedures.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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