Summary: Mr X complains the Council delayed in deciding he was not eligible for housing benefit and then changed its decision but did not tell him it had done so. The Council delayed in deciding about Mr X’s eligibility for housing benefit. This meant Mr X’s experienced unnecessary distress. The Council will apologise to Mr X and pay him £150 to remedy the distress he experienced.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council delayed in deciding he was not eligible for housing benefit. He also complains the Council later changed its decision and did not communicate this to him.
2. Mr X says this was distressing and led to his landlord behaving in a threatening way towards him.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
5. When considering complaints, if there is a conflict of evidence, we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we will weigh up the available relevant evidence and base our findings on what we think was more likely to have happened.
6. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the council knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the council of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5))
7. When Mr X made his complaint to the Ombudsman, he said he had complained to the Council but not received a response. As Mr X is a vulnerable person, I have exercised discretion to consider his complaint now.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I have considered:
• all the information Mr X provided and discussed the complaint with him;
• the Council’s comments about the complaint and the supporting documents it provided; and
• relevant law and guidance and the Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies.
9. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

10. Housing benefit helps people on low incomes to pay their rent.
11. Section 89(2) of The Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 states the first payment of housing benefit should be made within 14 days of the council receiving the claim. If payment cannot be made within that time, it should be done as soon as possible. The regulations also state councils must tell applicants about the outcome of its decision in writing.

What happened

12. Mr X applied for housing benefit the day he moved into private accommodation in early September 2019. He asked the Council to pay the benefit directly to his landlord.
13. In its response to my enquiries, the Council said it did initial work on Mr X’s claim 11 days after he submitted it. It said it mislabelled Mr X’s claim when it forwarded it for assessment. This meant the assessor could not easily see the claim was waiting to be considered.
14. Mr X says the Council told his landlord that he was not eligible for housing benefit. The Council disputes this.
15. Mr X says he struggled to pay his rent without housing benefit. He says his landlord visited him about the rent he owed. Mr X says the landlord behaved threateningly and intimidated him. Mr X says he then visited the Council to ask it to resolve the issue.
16. In early November 2019, the Council identified the labelling error and corrected it. An assessor considered Mr X’s claim four days later. The Council wrote to Mr X and his landlord the same day to say Mr X was eligible for housing benefit and it would backdate payment to the date Mr X applied. Mr X says he did not receive the letter from the Council.

Analysis

17. The Council has acknowledged fault in how it processed Mr X’s claim. This caused a delay of 6 weeks and meant Mr X experienced avoidable distress.
18. The Council addressed its letter to Mr X in early November correctly. I am satisfied that on the balance of probabilities, it was sent to Mr X.
19. Mr X says the Council initially told his landlord he was not eligible for housing benefit. He says it changed its decision two weeks after he visited the Council offices. The Council says this is incorrect and that it only made one decision, in early November. Based on the information available to me, I cannot make a judgement on this matter. In any event, it did not add to the delay Mr X experienced.

Agreed action

20. Within one month of the date of my final decision, the Council will:
• apologise to Mr X for failing to process his housing benefit application properly; and
• pay Mr X £150 in recognition of the distress he experienced because of the Council’s fault.

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Final decision

21. I have completed my investigation. I have found fault leading to personal injustice. I have recommended action to remedy that injustice and prevent reoccurrence of this fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman