Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about a gap in the complainant’s housing benefit claim. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because the complainant could have used his review and appeal rights.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains about the way the Council handled his housing benefit. He wants the Council to pay benefit for a missing month from February 2019.

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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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
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 the Council’s responses. This includes letters the Council sent to Mr X about his housing benefit. I considered comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Housing benefit

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. The tribunal can decide to accept a late appeal up to 13 months from the date of the decision.

What happened

7. In February and March 2019 the Council asked Mr X to provide some information in support of his housing benefit. The Council particularly needed sight of bank statements. Mr X did not respond so, in March, the Council ended his claim from 28 January.
8. Mr X provided some information and on 3 July the Council awarded benefit from 28 January to 4 February. The Council told Mr X he had one month to appeal to the tribunal if he disagreed with the decision.
9. Mr X claimed Universal Credit from 6 March. People who claim Universal Credit cannot claim housing benefit.
10. In response to his complaint, in October and November, the Council explained that Mr X had still not provided all the information the Council had asked for in February. It also explained that the housing benefit rules say people should provide information within one month of it being requested. It said it was too late to reconsider the break in the claim from February to March.
11. Mr X wants the Council to pay benefit from for the missing period before he claimed Universal Credit.

Assessment

12. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council closed Mr X’s housing benefit claim because he had not provided all the information it had asked for. It was able to reinstate the claim for a short period but could do so until the Universal Credit started because Mr X had not provided full bank statements for that period. There is nothing to suggest fault by the Council.
13. I also will not start an investigation because Mr X could have used his review and appeal rights. The Council closed the claim in March and, in July, reinstated the claim for a few days. In both cases Mr X could have asked for a review or appeal if he disagreed with the period for which the Council awarded benefit. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to have appealed because the tribunal is the appropriate body to consider benefit disputes.
14. Mr X says he did provide all the information the Council had asked for and the Council confirmed this. However, if Mr X thought he had provided all the information he could have appealed to the tribunal about the Council’s decision of 3 July 2019. Mr X says the Council did not tell him about the tribunal but the decision letter of 3 July told Mr X he could appeal to the tribunal. Mr X could ask for a late appeal but it would be for the tribunal to decide whether to accept a late appeal.

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Final decision

15. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because Mr X could have used his appeal rights.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman