Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about a housing benefit overpayment because the complainant could have appealed to the tribunal.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, disagrees that she should have to repay a housing benefit overpayment. She says she disclosed all the necessary information for her claim to be assessed correctly.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)
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 read the complaint and the letters the Council sent to Ms X about the overpayments. I invited Ms X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

6. If a council pays too much housing benefit to someone it will usually ask them to repay it. The law says an overpayment is recoverable unless it was caused by an official error and it was not reasonable to expect the person to realise they were receiving too much benefit. If someone disagrees with a decision that they must repay an overpayment they can appeal to the tribunal. The law says people should appeal within one month of the date of the decision they think is wrong.

What happened

7. During 2018 the Council notified Ms X of three housing benefit overpayments. The Council said the overpayments arose due to changes in Ms X’s income and charges in the income of a family member. The housing benefit decision letters explained Ms X had one month to ask for a review or appeal to the tribunal.
8. Ms X asked for a review outside the one month time limit. In response the Council asked for more information about why she thought the overpayment decisions were wrong and why the challenge was late. Ms X did not respond. The Council then confirmed the overpayments in May 2019 but again invited Ms X to appeal. Ms X did not appeal.
9. The Council has accepted an offer from Ms X to repay the overpayment at £25 a month. Ms X has also made a payment arrangement for council tax.
10. Ms X disputes the overpayment. She says she gave the Council all the information she was asked to provide. Ms X has stopped claimed housing benefit because she has lost all the faith in the system.

Assessment

11. I will not start an investigation because Ms X could have used her review and appeal rights within the one month period for each overpayment decision. It is reasonable to expect her to have used her appeal rights because the tribunal is the appropriate body to consider disputes about housing benefit decisions. The tribunal would have decided if Ms X had to repay the overpayments. If the tribunal decided Ms X did not have to repay the money it would have cancelled the overpayment. The Ombudsman does not have the power to cancel overpayments.

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Final decision

12. I will not start an investigation because Ms X could have used her review and appeal rights.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman