Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms B’s complaint about housing benefit and council tax support. This is because it would have been reasonable for Ms B to have used her appeal rights.

The complaint

1. Ms B says the Council wrongly sent her a bill for overpayment of housing benefit. She also says she should receive council tax support, but the Council did not award it. Ms B says it has been stressful dealing with the Council.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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)
4. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information from Ms B and the Council. I shared a draft version of this statement with Ms B and invited her comments.

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What I found

6. Ms B is self-employed and she contacted the Council to see if she could receive housing benefit and council tax support. The Council responded and said Ms B’s household income had changed. The Council sent Ms B a bill of £6,676.53 for overpaid housing benefit and a bill of £2,000 for council tax.
7. Ms B challenged this and provided the Council with further evidence.
8. The Council reviewed its original decision and reduced the overpaid housing benefit to £2,003.02. The Council said there was no change to the nil award of council tax support because Ms B’s self-employed earnings had increased. The Council asked Ms B to complete a new council tax support form based on her current circumstances. The Council also made Ms B aware of her right to appeal to an independent tribunal for her housing benefit and the Valuation Tribunal for the decision about council tax support.
9. When someone has a right of appeal to a tribunal, the Ombudsman normally expects them to use that right, unless it is unreasonable for them to do so. Any decision about entitlement to housing benefit can be appealed to a social security tribunal – see paragraph 3. Any dispute about entitlement to council tax support can be appealed to a Valuation Tribunal – see paragraph 4. The tribunals are independent, expert bodies. They are the mechanisms set up by Parliament for people to challenge housing benefit and council tax decisions. I see no reason why Ms B could not have used her appeal rights.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms B’s complaint. This is because it would have been reasonable for Ms B to have used her appeal rights.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman