Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr B’s late complaint about the way the Council dealt with his claims for housing benefit and council tax reduction. This is because it was reasonable to expect Mr B to use his right of appeal to the Tribunal Service.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr B, has complained about the way the Council’s benefits service dealt with his claims for housing benefit and council tax reduction following his appeal to the Tribunal Service.

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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. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. 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)
5. 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

6. I have considered the information Mr B sent to us and his comments on my draft decision.

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What I found

7. Mr B told us he contacted the Council repeatedly about incorrect assessments and calculations. He said the Council’s benefits service lost information, gave him wrong information and there were other issues. Mr B told us, because of a change in his circumstances, the Council’s error does not affect him anymore. But he said the Council continues to make the same mistake in every assessment it sends to him.
8. Mr B first contacted us in March 2020. His complaint to us is late because he took more than 12 months to complain to us about what the Council had done. But, in any case, there is another restriction which affects whether we should investigate his complaint.
9. The law provides a specific right of appeal to people who wish to challenge decisions on their housing benefit and council tax reduction. If someone believes the way a council has dealt with their claim which has affected the decision on it, we expect them to use their right of appeal to the independent Tribunal Service. That is the specific remedy the law provides. So it was not unreasonable to expect Mr B to use his right of appeal if he disagreed with any of the Council’s assessments and calculations of his housing benefit.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate this late complaint. This is because it was reasonable to expect Mr B to use his right of appeal to the Tribunal Service.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman