Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council creating an overpayment on her council tax and housing benefit accounts. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because it was reasonable for her to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal and the independent benefits tribunal against the Council’s decisions.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mrs X, says the Council placed overpayments on her council tax and housing benefit accounts following a review of her claim in February 2019. She says she did not withhold any information from the Council in her claims and the decision to recover the overpayment is unfair.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
4. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered all the information which Mrs X submitted with her complaint and she has been given the opportunity to comment on the draft decision.

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What I found

6. Mrs X received an overpayment added to her council tax and housing benefit accounts in February 2019. The amounts added to more than £1,400 which she says causes problems in paying her rent. She says the Council backdated the change in her circumstances for some years due to her family receiving carer’s allowance which was not declared on annual review forms.
7. Mrs X says she cannot understand why the Council only became aware of the allowance on her last review. The Council says that the allowance is administered by the Department of Work and Pensions. It does not update the Council about changes in the benefit automatically. It identified the allowance during a review of the claim in 2019 when the Council asked the DWP for further information. It says there was no mention of the allowance on the forms submitted by Mrs X.
8. The Ombudsman does not normally investigate complaints where there is a right of appeal against a council decision. In this case Mrs X had a right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal on the council tax reduction overpayment. I understand she has contacted that body. She also has a right of appeal to the independent benefits tribunal at the Social Entitlement Chamber. It was reasonable for her to appeal and the Council advised her of her rights in its correspondence.

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Final decision

9. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because it was reasonable for her to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal and the independent benefits tribunal against the Council’s decisions.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman