Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss Q’s complaint about a housing benefit overpayment. This is because she has a right of appeal to a tribunal.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I have called Miss Q, complained that the London Borough of Brent is wrongly recovering a housing benefit overpayment from her.

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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 considered the information Miss Q provided. I considered the information the Council provided. I invited Miss Q to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

6. The Council told Miss Q it had overpaid her housing benefit. It said the overpayment was recoverable. Miss Q believes the overpayment arose because of the Council’s error. She does not think the Council should recover the overpayment from her.
7. If Miss Q believes the overpayment arose because of the Council’s error she can appeal to the Social Entitlement Chamber. We do not make decisions on whether a housing benefit overpayment is recoverable. So it would be reasonable for Miss Q to use her right of appeal. We will not investigate Miss Q’s complaint for this reason.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Miss Q’s complaint. This is because she may appeal to a tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman