Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint that the Council has not processed a claim for housing benefit that the complainant made in 2018. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, says the Council has not processed a claim for housing benefit that he made in November 2018. Mr X wants the Council to pay him housing benefit.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I considered the letter Mr X sent to the Council in November 2018. I considered comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Housing Benefit and Universal Credit

4. The government is rolling out Universal Credit (UC). Most people cannot claim housing benefit when an area becomes a UC area. People who live in a UC area claim help with their housing costs through UC and cannot claim housing benefit. Bath and North East Somerset became a UC area in May 2016.
5. The housing cost element of UC replaces housing benefit for most people claiming UC.

What happened

6. Mr X wrote to the Council in November 2018. He said he had moved into his father’s house as his father had moved into a care home. Mr X said he had agreed to pay the council tax and he indicated he would be paying rent of £175 a week. The letter did not mention housing benefit or say that Mr X wanted to claim housing benefit.
7. The Council registered Mr X for council tax and sent a bill in November 2018.
8. Mr X contacted the Council in June 2020 to complain that the Council had not processed his claim for housing benefit as requested in November 2018.
9. In response the Council explained that his letter had not requested housing benefit and that, since May 2016, people had been required to claim help with housing costs through UC and could not claim housing benefit. The Council noted that Mr X had reported he gets UC.
10. Mr X is dissatisfied with the Council’s response and wants it to pay him housing benefit.

Assessment

11. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
12. I have read Mr X’s letter and it was not a claim for housing benefit. He did not mention housing benefit nor say he wanted to claim housing benefit. He referred to paying council tax and the Council responded appropriately by sending him a council tax bill. Mr X says he did refer to housing benefit and that it is enough that he expressed his intention to claim housing benefit. However, although I have re-read his letter there is no reference to housing benefit and no indication that he wanted to make a claim.
13. In addition, Mr X sent his letter in 2018 which is after the area became a UC area in 2016. The Council could not, and cannot, award housing benefit to Mr X because he is required to claim help with his housing costs via UC. The Council has explained this to Mr X.
14. Mr X says the Council is wrong. He says the Council calculates the housing benefit and then tells the DWP how much it should pay to the UC claimant to help with the rent. However, Mr X is mistaken. Mr X would need to apply for help with housing costs through his UC. The Council has no role to play. Mr X already receives UC so he may have received information, from the DWP, about claiming help with housing costs.

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Final decision

15. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman