Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss B’s complaint about housing benefit and her council tax account. This is because the Council does not administer the universal credit housing costs process, it was not unreasonable to expect Miss B to pursue her right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal and she could only challenge the liability order through the courts.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Miss B, complained that the Council failed to pay her housing benefit, which she needs to pay her rent, it will not deal with her appeal and it defrauded her council tax account. Miss B says she is in debt and at risk of losing her home.

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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. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
4. 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)
5. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
6. We have the power to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been, raised within a court of law. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

7. I have considered the information Miss B and the Council provided and Miss B’s comments on my draft decision.

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What I found

8. Miss B has sent us a copy of an email from April 2019 which refers to an appeal she made against the Council’s housing benefit decision. Her email also refers to a liability order the Council sought so it could recover outstanding council tax.
9. Miss B told us she wants the Council to pay her the housing benefit due and to compensate her or pay damages because she believes the Council’s actions are racially motivated.
10. The Council does not administer the universal credit housing costs process. It says Miss B was in receipt of universal credit, rather than housing benefit, from 5 May 2017, and so was outside the maximum housing benefit appeal time limit. Housing benefit review requests must normally be made within a month of the decision.
11. The Council says the most recent housing benefit appeal decision was issued in August 2018. That related to a housing benefit overpayment decision. We cannot investigate complaints about matters which have already been the subject of an appeal.
12. We cannot investigate complaints about council decisions to start court proceedings or their conduct of those proceedings. If people wish to challenge a council’s application for a liability order, we normally expect them to do so in court before the court reaches its decision. Miss B says she believes the Council has defrauded her but she was not aware of the council tax issues until after the liability order. Liability orders can only be challenged though the courts so this is not an issue the Ombudsman would pursue.
13. Miss B had the right of appeal to an independent tribunal against the Council’s decisions on her council tax support. The Council wrote to Miss B in August 2019 telling her the outcome of her review request. It was not unreasonable to expect her to pursue her right of appeal the Valuation Tribunal. This is the body with the appropriate powers and expertise to consider the matter.

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Final decision

14. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council does not administer the universal credit housing costs process, it was not unreasonable to expect Miss B to pursue her right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal and she could only challenge the liability order through the courts.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman