Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council (19 007 556)
Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 05 Oct 2019
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss A’s complaint that the Council is seeking to recover an overpayment of housing benefit. This is because it was open to Miss A to appeal to a tribunal and it would have been reasonable for her to do so.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I will refer to as Miss A, complains that the Council is seeking to recover an overpayment of housing benefit.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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 have considered what Miss A has said in support of her complaint.
What I found
- Miss A complains that the Council is seeking to recover an overpayment of housing benefit from 2014 to 2017. Miss A says she was on a low income at that time and should not have been left in debt for a period when she asked for the Council’s help. She wants the Council to arrange a payment plan.
- The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss A’s complaint. The Council is entitled to recover a council tax debt. Whether the debt exists and whether it should be recoverable are not matters for the Ombudsman. This is because Miss A had the right of appeal to the tribunal when the Council notified her about the debt. The Ombudsman normally expects appeal rights to be used where they exist, and it would have been reasonable for Miss A to do.
- Councils may agree to arrange payment plans for the repayment of housing benefit debts. But they are not obliged to do so. Miss A may ask the Council for a payment plan but the Ombudsman cannot intervene.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it would have been reasonable for her to use her right to appeal to a tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman