Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to pay a woman’s claims for housing benefit, and about the way it dealt with her when she became homeless. This is mainly because the woman has complained late about these matters. She also had the right to go to a tribunal about the Council’s housing benefit decisions.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall call Miss B, complained that the Council still owed her money in respect of housing benefit (HB) claims she made between March 2015 and March 2018. Miss B also complained the Council did not do enough to help her after she became homeless following her eviction from her private rented accommodation in May 2018.

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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. In particular the law says 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 an authority has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D)
3. The law says we normally cannot 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. But we cannot investigate a complaint if someone has already appealed to a tribunal (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 B provided with her complaint and her comments in response to a draft of this decision. I also took account of documents from Miss B’s previous complaint to us, and the Council’s response to my enquiries about her case.

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What I found

6. In February 2015 Miss B claimed HB to help with rent payments for her private rented accommodation. But the Council refused Miss B’s claim on the basis that her immigration status made her ineligible to receive welfare benefits.
7. In 2016 Miss B appealed to the Social Entitlement Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal about the Council’s decision. However the Tribunal upheld the Council’s refusal decision.
8. Miss B subsequently complained to the Ombudsman about this matter. But in August 2017 we decided we could not pursue Miss B’s complaint because the law says we cannot investigate complaints where someone has already appealed to a tribunal about the issue in question.
9. Miss B made further HB claims in April, October and December 2017. The Council refused all three claims because Miss B did not provide evidence her immigration status allowed her to receive HB.
10. In May 2018 Miss B was evicted from her private rented accommodation. Miss B said she approached the Council for help with housing as she was homeless, but it denied her assistance even though she was a victim of domestic violence.
11. In May 2020 Miss B made a new complaint to the Ombudsman. She asked us to look again at the Council’s failure to pay her HB claims between 2015 and 2018, and at its failure to assist her after she became homeless in 2018.

Analysis

12. But I have concluded that we should not start an investigation of Miss B’s complaint.
13. First, we do not reconsider complaints we have already dealt with unless there is significant new information which gives us reason to look at the case again. We considered the issue of Miss B’s HB claim from 2015 in her previous complaint to us. Miss B has not provided any new information which casts doubt on our decision in that case. Therefore I see no reason to look at this matter again now.
14. Second, I do not see we should investigate Miss B’s complaints about the Council’s decisions concerning her HB claims in 2017. This is because she had a right of appeal to the First Tier Tribunal in each case. I also see no reason why Miss B could not have used her appeal rights at the time if she disputed the Council’s decisions, particularly as she was already aware of the tribunal process.
15. In addition I consider we should not investigate Miss B’s complaints about the Council’s decisions on her 2017 HB claims, and about its response to her homelessness in 2018, because these complaints are late.
16. It seems Miss B would have known about all of the Council’s HB decisions in her case by early 2018, and she would have been aware of how the Council had dealt with her homelessness case by mid-2018. However she did not complain to us about these matters until May 2020.
17. As a result it is clear Miss B has made her complaints to us well over 12 months after she became aware of the issues in question. In the circumstances I consider the restriction on us investigating late complaints, which I refer to in paragraph 2, applies in her case.
18. In addition Miss B has not offered any good reason for making a late complaint. As a result I am not convinced we have grounds to exercise discretion and investigate her complaint now despite it being late.

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Final Decision

19. The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss B’s complaint about the way the Council dealt with her housing benefit claims and homelessness case. This is because she complained late about these matters and she had a right of appeal to a tribunal about the Council’s housing benefit decisions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman