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.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains: the Council did not pay her the housing benefit due to her tenant and failed to reply to her complaints. Miss X says she lost rent of £1,700 and incurred overdraft charges. She also says the Council has caused her unnecessary time, trouble and distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
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)
4. 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

5. The events complained about happened in 2017. I have exercised discretion to investigate the complaint because Miss X consistently tried to get the Council to reply to her complaint.
6. I have considered the complaint Miss X made and discussed it with her. I have asked the Council for information and considered this.
7. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on a draft of the decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Universal Credit

8. Universal Credit (UC) is gradually replacing six different benefits for working age claimants. These are Income Support, Income Based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Based Employment and Support Allowance, Housing Benefit and Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit. These six benefits are now called legacy benefits.
9. Newcastle City started to move to UC in May 2016. The postcode relating to this complaint was in the first areas to move to UC. Since May 2016 anyone under pension age making a new claim for help with their rent from an address in that postcode needed to make a claim for UC, instead of Housing Benefit.
10. Universal credit claims cannot be backdated.
11. Under housing benefit regulations a claimant can ask the Council to make the payments directly to the landlord. This is not the case for the housing element of UC. The housing element of UC is paid to the tenant. If the tenant has the equivalent of one month’s rent arrears, the DWP will consider a request for direct payments but will try budgeting advice first. Direct payments are only made to the landlord if there is proof of at least two month’s rent arrears.

The Council’s complaints policy

12. The Council has a 3 stage complaints process.

• Step 1 - informal complaint.
• Step 2 - formal complaint acknowledged with 3 working days. Investigated by a senior manage who will reply within 15 working days.
• Step 3 – acknowledged within 3 working days. Investigated by a Corporate Complaints Officer who will reply within 25 working days.

What happened

13. Miss X owns a flat in Newcastle which she rents out through an agent. The flat is in an area that moved to UC in May 2016. In late December 2016 the agent advertised the flat and Ms Y applied. Ms Y is a young mother who was supported by Officer 1 a Family Support Worker.
14. Miss X says Officer 1 persuaded her and the agent to let the flat to Ms Y. Miss X says Officer 1 told them Ms Y would be a good tenant and the Council would pay the rent directly to the agent.
15. Officer 1 contacted the agent in December but has not kept a note of what they discussed. The first note made by Officer 1 is dated 3 January 2017 when she went to the agent’s office with Ms Y. The note says Officer 1 will let the agent know what housing benefit Ms Y would get and said that it would be paid direct to the landlord. Officer 1 and Ms Y arranged to visit the agent the following day to sign the tenancy. The next day Officer 1 told the agent Ms Y would get £414.24 a month housing benefit. Officer 1 later confirmed to the agent she would help Ms Y claim housing benefit and payments would be made direct to the landlord. Officer 1 noted she would keep in touch with the landlord about rent payments.
16. On 19 January 2017 Officer 1 submitted a housing benefit application for Ms Y. She asked for direct payments to the landlord and said the Council had Ms Y’s permission to discuss the housing benefit claim with the landlord. Officer 1 sent a text to the agent to confirm this.
17. On 13 February 2017 the Revenues Service wrote to Ms Y to say she was in a UC area and could not claim housing benefit and must claim UC for help with her housing costs.
18. On 14 February 2017 the agent contacted Officer 1 to say the rent had not been paid. Officer 1 told him there was a backlog with housing benefit and she would chase this.
19. Officer 1 then contacted the Revenues Service who told her Ms Y could not claim housing benefit and needed to claim UC for her housing costs. Officer 1’s notes show she continued to believe Ms Y needed to claim housing benefit as well as UC and that the Council would not assess her housing benefit until she had claimed UC. On 1 March 2017 Officer 1 made a note that Ms Y told her the DWP had said she did not need to make a new claim. Officer 1 said she would contact the Revenues Service and tell it this and to pay Ms Y’s housing benefit claim immediately.
20. On 14 April 2017 Officer 1 went to the agent’s office with Ms Y. Officer 1 told the agent she was continuing to sort out Ms Y’s benefits. Ms Y agreed to surrender the tenancy and clear her belongings by 21 April. Officer 1 agreed to update the agent on Ms Y’s benefits. On 19 April Officer 1 telephoned the agent to say she was still sorting out Ms Y’s benefits.
21. Miss X says she said she would contact the Council about housing benefit. She says Officer 1 told her to leave it with her to deal with.
22. Miss X says Ms Y took items belonging to her when she left. She says Officer 1 said she would help her retrieve the items.
23. On 24 April the agent telephoned Officer 1. Officer 1 told the agent Ms Y had an appointment to make an application for UC on 27 April. Officer 1 said she would update the agent. Officer 1 did not contact the agent again.
24. Miss X says Officer 1 stopped returning calls made by herself and her mother. Miss X says she tried to contact Officer 1’s line manager but he did not respond.
25. In November 2017 Miss X made a step 2 complaint. She said she and her mother had left about 50 messages for Officer 1 but she had not returned the calls.
26. The Council did not reply until April 2018. The Council says it incorrectly classified the complaint and apologised to Miss X for this on 6 March 2018. Officer 2 a social care manager replied to the complaint. Officer 2 did not uphold Miss X’s complaint. Officer 2 said Officer 1 had made a claim for housing benefit and provided updates on this. Officer 2 said Officer 1 had asked Ms Y to return Miss X’s belongings but could not compel her. Officer 2 said Officer 1 could not return Miss X’s calls as it was not appropriate to share information with Miss X after Ms Y left her property.
27. On 14 April 2018 Miss X asked the Council to consider her complaint at step 3 of its complaints procedure. On 24 April she asked the Council to contact her and asked how she could contact the Revenues Department. The next day Officer 3, a corporate complaints office telephoned Miss X and asked her for the information she had given to Officer 2. Miss X sent the information to Officer 3 that day.
28. On 24 April 2018 the Revenues Department provided information to the Complaints Department. It said it told Officer 1 three times in February and March 2017 that Ms Y could not claim housing benefit and needed to claim UC. Revenues said it understood the UC team at the DWP might be giving wrong advice and so it advised people to claim UC online.
29. On 11 June 2018 Miss X asked Officer 3 for an update. Officer 3 asked Miss X if she had provided the information he asked for. Miss X said she had and sent it again. Officer 3 confirmed he had already received the information from Miss X on 25 April.
30. On 26 July 2018 Miss X again asked for an update. Officer 3 replied on 12 August that he was arranging a meeting with Officer 2. Officer 3 met with Officer 2 on 6 September 2018. Officer 2 repeated what she had said in her complaint response to Miss X. Officer 3 made a note he needed to speak to Officer 1 and see the records.
31. On 24 October 2018 Miss X again asked for an update but did not get a reply. Miss X then had a baby and so not pursue the complaint for a few months.
32. Miss X complained to us in May 2019, we asked the Council for information. On 19 June 2019 Officer 3 replied in his new role. He apologised and said due to a breakdown in communication the Council did not send a step 3 response to Miss X. Officer 3 said Officer 2 had now left the Council. He said he had asked an officer to speak to Officer 2’s manager to see how the Council could progress the complaint. Officer 3 said he would update us by 25 June 2019.
33. On 27 June 2019 Officer 3 contacted us. He apologised an officer had not provided the update and said he escalated this to the Service Manager and Assistant Director. Officer 3 asked for the opportunity for the Council to resolve the complaint and said he had asked for a meeting with the Service Manager to discuss the complaint. Officer 3 said the Council would provide a full response to Miss X by 18 July 2019. We gave the Council this opportunity. Officer 3 then contacted us to say there was a delay because of the availability of officers he wanted to speak to. He also said he was going to ask Miss X for evidence she had mentioned.
34. On 22 July Miss X provided Officer 3 with what information she had, which was her hand written notes of some of her attempts to contact Officer 1 from June to October 2017 and her attempts to find out who she needed to speak to. Miss X said a lot of the information was on her mother’s old mobile phone that she no longer had. Officer 3 said he did not want to put Miss X to any trouble and he would ask social care for its records of contact from Miss X. There was then contact between us and the Council and the Council and Miss X. The final email was from Miss X to the Council was on 2 August 2019. She said she had provided all she had and would need to contact her phone provider for more information.
35. On 22 January 2020 Miss X contacted us to say she had heard nothing more from the Council. We contacted the Council. On 27 January 2020 Officer 4 another Corporate Complaints Officer replied. Officer 4 said the Council had not completed the review of Ms X’s complaint. She said “the Officer involved at the time is no longer in post I am unable to explain the reasons why this was not resolved”. Officer 4 asked for the opportunity for the Council to resolve the complaint in its standard 25 working day timeframe. We did not agree to this but unfortunately there was a delay in our progress of the complaint due to the coronavirus lockdown.
36. In its response to our enquiries the Council says Officer 1 explained to Miss X she could not talk to her after Ms Y left her property and she needed to contact Ms Y. It says Officer 1 did not enter into any agreement with Miss X to be responsible for Ms Y’s conduct of the tenancy. The Council says it did not provide a step 3 response to Miss X after we contacted it in May 2019 “due to a breakdown in communication following a changeover of roles within the department”.

Findings

37. Ms Y was responsible for paying the rent and the Council is right it did not have a contract with Miss X. In most circumstances we would find the Council had no responsibility to the landlord. However, in this case the Council does have a responsibility. The Council dealt with the agent and in effect provided a reference for Ms Y. The Council went further than this, however well intentioned, it gave the agent wrong information. It told the agent it would pay Miss X £414.24 a month housing benefit. If it had given the agent correct information, that Ms Y needed to claim UC and, at least at first, this would not be paid directly to the landlord, it is possible the agent would not have given Ms Y the tenancy. Providing incorrect information is fault. It caused injustice as Miss X was entitled to rely on what the Council told her agent.
38. The Council should have told Miss X in April 2017 that she should report the alleged theft of her property to the police. The Council did not do this, it said it would try to get Miss X’s property back. It did not tell Miss X until April 2018 it had not got her property back and it was a police matter. This delay is fault. It caused injustice as it prevented Miss X pursuing the alleged theft.
39. The Council never told Miss X it could not discuss Ms Y with her after Ms Y left the property. The Council did the opposite. It told the agent it would update him on Ms Y’s benefits and failed to do so. The Council could discuss Ms Y’s rent and housing benefit with Miss X, it had Ms Y’s permission for this.
40. The Council never told Miss X that Ms Y could not claim housing benefit. Even in its complaint response of April 2018 it said it had applied for housing benefit for Ms Y and provided updates to Miss X. The Council should have explained then that Ms Y could not claim housing benefit and had not claimed UC while living in Miss X’s property and so received no help with the rent. The failure to tell Miss X this is fault. The Council had told the agent it would keep him updated on the housing benefit and UC claim. It put Miss X to unnecessary trouble in trying to get the information from the Council.
41. I have no doubt Miss X and her mother made numerous attempts to contact the Council between April and November 2017. I have seen Miss X’s handwritten notes and the Council does not deny Miss X made the calls. Instead it says it did not respond because Ms Y no longer lived in Miss X’s property. This is fault. It should have treated Miss X’s contact as a step 1 complaint and tried to resolve it. What it should not have done is ignore Miss X, adding to her distress and unnecessary time and trouble.
42. The Council then delayed unreasonably in responding to Miss X’s step 2 complaint. That it misfiled the complaint is not good reason. Someone must have read Miss X’s letter and must have known it needed a response. The delay in replying is fault
43. The Council has given no satisfactory response for its failure to reply to Miss X’s step 3 complaint. The change of roles is not an explanation. Officer 3 is still involved in complaints handling and the Council could have found out from him why it did not deal with Miss X‘s complaint. The failure to reply, even after contact from us, is fault. The Council caused injustice not only in terms of time and trouble but the delay in resolving Miss X’s complaint.
44. We provide guidance on remedies. This says a council should reimburse a complainant for a quantifiable financial loss. We also say a council should provide a remedy for unnecessary time, trouble and distress its actions caused. Distress includes lost opportunities and outrage if the council treated the complainant significantly unfairly or showed a disregard for proper procedures. We consider a council should also provide a remedy if it caused the complainant unnecessary time and trouble
45. In this case Miss X has a quantifiable financial loss, the money the Council said it would pay her. The Council also caused Miss X distress with the way it treated her. We usually recommend a payment of between £100 and £300. I consider the distress the Council caused Miss X merits the highest end of this scale. The Council put Miss X to unnecessary time and trouble. Again, we usually recommend a payment of between £100 and £300. In this case I consider the unnecessary tie and trouble the Council caused Miss X merits the middle of the sale.

Agreed action

46. To put matters right for Miss X within one month of my final decision the Council will:

• Apologise to Miss X
• Pay Miss X £1,449.83 for three and half months at the £414.24 a month the Council told Miss X it would pay her
• Pay Miss X £500 for unnecessary distress, time and trouble it caused her.

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Final decision

47. The Council is at fault and has caused injustice. The Council has agreed to provide the remedy I recommended. I have completed my investigation and closed the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman