Newark & Sherwood District Council (19 000 327)

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

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 05 Sep 2019

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Mr X complains that the Council has made errors in his housing benefit entitlement. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because these was a right of appeal to a tribunal. Part of the complaint is also out of time.

The complaint

  1. Mr X complains that the Council has made errors in his housing benefit entitlement.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
  2. The Social Entitlement Chamber (also known as the Social Security Appeal Tribunal) is a tribunal that considers housing benefit appeals. (The Social Entitlement Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal)
  3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I have considered the complainant's comments and the Council's comments and Mr X has commented on the draft decision.

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What I found

  1. Mr X first made an application for housing benefit in 2016. He has made subsequent claims and disputes the amount considered for tax credits and his self employed income. His claim was reassessed in 2019 after a review of his income.
  2. Any decision about entitlement to benefit can be appealed to a social security appeal tribunal. The tribunal is an expert impartial body whose decisions are binding on a Council. I see no reason why an appeal could not have been made in this case. He has up to 13 months to make an appeal (with the discretion of the tribunal). The Ombudsman cannot determine whether his entitlement is correct or not.
  3. Any complaint about the original claim is, in any event, out of time for investigation.

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Final decision

  1. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because there was a right of appeal to a tribunal and part of the complaint is out of time.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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