Summary: The complaint is about the Council asking Ms X to repay housing benefit. The Ombudsman will not pursue this complaint because of Ms X’s right to appeal to a tribunal. In the event, the Council has now decided not to ask Ms X for the payment.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council paid housing benefit to her landlord without her knowledge then asked her to repay some of that money. This means the Council is asking Ms X for £396.27.

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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 or to have appealed. (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 Ms X provided and some copy correspondence the Council provided.

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What I found

6. The Council paid some housing benefit direct to Ms X’s landlord. Ms X did not expect the Council to pay benefit during that time because she had told the Council her income would increase then. She reports she was unaware the Council was paying her landlord. The Council paid the landlord £396.27 too much. It then said Ms X should pay the Council that amount.
7. Ms X’s complaint is about the Council paying the landlord without her knowledge and about the Council asking her to pay the overpayment. The substantive effect on Ms X from both points is the same, namely the Council wanting to recover from her the overpayment it gave the landlord.
8. Ms X had the right to appeal against the Council’s decision to recover the money from her. So the restriction in paragraph 3 applies. The law expressly gives Ms X that appeal right. The tribunal has the expertise to deal with such matters and the power to change the Council’s decisions as it considers necessary. Here, the Council told Ms X about her appeal right. Ms X argued she should not have to pay the money because the overpayment was due to an official error and she could not reasonably have realised there was an overpayment as she did not receive the money. Those are arguments the tribunal could consider.
9. For these reasons I considered it was reasonable to expect Ms X to appeal when she had that right. Ms X could ask the tribunal if it would consider a late appeal. I sent Ms X a draft decision to that effect.
10. After I sent my draft decision, Ms X told the Council she still wanted to appeal against its decision. The Council then reviewed the matter and decided it no longer wanted Ms X to pay the money. So, in the event, Ms X does not need to use her appeal right.

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Final decision

11. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because of Ms X’s appeal right and because the substantive matter is now resolved.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman