Milton Keynes Council (19 005 059)
Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 09 Sep 2019
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr X complains that the Council unfairly sought repayment of an overpayment of housing benefit for his son Mr Y. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because he had a right of appeal to a tribunal and the matter is out of time.
The complaint
- Mr X complains that the Council unfairly sought repayment of an overpayment of housing benefit for his son Mr Y.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered the complainant's and Council's comments. The complainant has been given the opportunity to comment before a final decision has been made.
What I found
- The Council wrote to Mr X’s son, Mr Y in June 2015 of an overpayment of housing benefit as a result of information obtained about his income. The letter advised him of his appeal rights. Mr Y queried the decision and he was asked to provide pay slips for the period. Although some pay slips were provided in 2018 when the matter was queried by Mr X, they did not alter the decision and no further pay slips have been provided.
- Mr Y was aware of the matter in June 2015 and I see no reason why a complaint could not have been made to this office within 12 months and so this complaint is out of time. Nevertheless, any complaint about a housing benefit would be expected to be appealed to a tribunal. The Tribunal is an independent expert body and its decisions are binding on Councils. I see no reason why an appeal could not have been made.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because the matter is out of time and could be appealed to a tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman