Summary: The Ombudsman cannot and will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council invoiced her for overpaid housing and council tax benefits for several years. This is because Mrs X has already appealed to the tribunal about her housing benefit claim and an investigation of the other issues would be unlikely to achieve a significantly different outcome as the Council has offered an appropriate remedy.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council invoiced her for overpaid housing and council tax benefits for several years. She says the Council should not have tried to recover the money and that a tribunal agreed with her. She says the Council made significant errors in the Council’s handling of the appeal, ignored her complaints and delayed implementing the tribunal’s decision.

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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 investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions a council has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
4. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information Mrs X provided in her complaint, the Council’s responses to her and its response to my request for information.
6. I sent a copy of my draft decisions to Mrs X. I considered her comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Background

7. The Council invoiced Mrs X for overpaid housing and council tax benefit for a 6-year period.
8. Mr X appealed the decision she had been overpaid and the tribunal decided she should not repay the money.
9. Mrs X complained to the Council that it should not have attempted to recover the overpayment and errors it made during the appeal. She says the Council’s decision and how it handled the appeal caused her significant distress and inconvenience. She also says the Council has not responded to her complaints and continued to pursue her for the money after the tribunal decided she did not owe it.
10. In its response to my enquiries, the Council accepts it fell short of its own standards and accepts there were delays in its handling of Mrs X’s case. It says it has apologised to Mrs X and proposes to offer her £500 in recognition of time and trouble Mrs X has been caused. It also says it will be reviewing its procedures to prevent something similar happening again.

Analysis

11. The law says the Ombudsman cannot investigate a complaint if someone has already appealed to a tribunal. Because Mrs X has already appealed to the tribunal the Ombudsman cannot investigate the Council’s decision to recover the alleged overpayment.
12. The Council has apologised to Mrs X in its responses to her complaint which I have seen. It has also offered to make a payment of £500 to Mrs X. We would be unlikely to achieve a significantly different remedy if we were to investigate.

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Final decision

The Ombudsman cannot and will not investigate this complaint. This is because Mrs X has already appealed to the tribunal about her housing benefit claim and an investigation of the other issues would be unlikely to achieve a significantly different outcome as the Council has offered an appropriate remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman