Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this housing benefit complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because there is no meaningful outcome he could achieve for the complainant.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains that the Council will not allow him to claim housing benefit.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I considered comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Housing benefit and Universal Credit

4. Universal Credit is a new benefit being introduced by central government. It is being rolled out across the country. Increasingly people who would previously have claimed housing benefit now have to claim Universal Credit. The Council has to follow the rules about Universal Credit which is administered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
5. In Birmingham people who need help with housing costs have to apply for Universal Credit. They can only claim housing benefit if they are within one month of a previous housing benefit claim ending. If people move from housing benefit to Universal Credit they can continue to receive housing benefit for the first two weeks of the UC claim.
6. People can ask the DWP to backdate a claim for UC by one month. They must show they have a good reason for backdating.

What happened

7. Mr X was receiving housing benefit. The Council wrote to him in May to say he had zero enlistment to housing benefit because his income was too high.
8. On 29 August Mr X told the Council that the family income from tax credits had fallen. He asked the Council to reassess his housing benefit. On 24 September the Council explained it had ended the claim in May and he would have to apply for help with housing costs through Universal Credit.
9. Mr X claimed Universal Credit from 1 October. He received help with his rent. Mr X says the DWP told him he could not apply for backdating.
10. Mr X says the Council did not cancel his housing benefit claim. He says the Council should pay his housing costs from 29 August until his Universal Credit started. His says his was entitled to two weeks of housing benefit because he moved from housing benefit to Universal Credit.

Assessment

11. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council ended Mr X’s housing benefit in May. It is correct that the decision letter did not say the claim had ended but it is a fact that Mr X was not entitled to housing benefit from May. As he was not getting housing benefit, and had not received it since May, he was not entitled to receive two weeks of housing benefit for the first two weeks of the Universal Credit claim. It also means he had to apply for help with his rent through Universal Credit. Mr X could have applied for Universal Credit on 24 September and asked for backdating.
12. Mr X says the Council did not tell him, before September, that he needed to claim Universal Credit. However, there is information on the Council’s website and, as I said, he could have asked for backdating. If Mr X thinks the DWP gave him incorrect information about backdating then he would need to raise this with the DWP.
13. The Council cannot give housing benefit to Mr X because the rules say that a new claim must be made through Universal Credit. Neither the Ombudsman nor the Council can change this requirement. Mr X’s last payment of housing benefit was in April which means that, by August, he has no access to housing benefit due to the Universal Credit rules.

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Final decision

14. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and I cannot change the rules relating to the requirement to claim Universal Credit.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman