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

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, complains about a housing benefit overpayment from 2017. She does not understand how it arose and does not think she should have to repay it. Ms X wants the overpayment reassessed.

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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 got some information from the Council. This includes the 2017 overpayment decision letter. I invited Ms X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Housing benefit decisions

6. If someone disagrees with a housing benefit decision they can ask for a review or appeal to the tribunal. If they have a review, and are unhappy with the decision, they can then 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. In November 2017 the Council asked Ms X to repay a housing benefit overpayment of £576. The letter said she had one month to appeal to the tribunal if she disagreed with the decision. Ms X did not appeal. The overpayment arose due to an increase in Ms X’s earnings.
8. During 2018 the Council asked Ms X to repay three more overpayments. The overpayments arose due to increases in other benefits that Ms X received. The Council explained her appeal rights. Ms X did not appeal.
9. The Council is recovering the overpayments by getting deductions from Ms X’s Universal Credit.
10. Ms X disputes the 2017 overpayment. She says was classed as sick but still working and nothing had changed in her circumstances. Ms X wants the overpayment to be reassessed.

Assessment

11. I will not start an investigation because Ms X could have appealed to the tribunal if she wanted to dispute any of the overpayments. It is reasonable to expect her to have appealed because the tribunal is the appropriate body to consider disputes about overpayments. The tribunal would have considered if Ms X had to repay the overpayment and whether the amount the Council had requested was correct. In addition, the Council clearly explained Ms X’s appeal rights.

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Final decision

12. I will not start an investigation because Ms X could have appealed to the tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman