Westminster City Council (20 003 810)

Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit

Decision : Not upheld

Decision date : 04 Feb 2021

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: The Council did not give the wrong advice that Miss X could not claim housing benefit. The Council processed and paid her claims for housing benefit. There is no evidence Miss X was advised by the Council to claim Universal Credit, which she says has made her financially worse off.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, who I shall call Miss X complains the Council wrongly advised her that she could not claim housing benefit for temporary accommodation rent. This led her claiming Universal Credit so she was no longer able to claim tax credits and meant she was financially worse off.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
  2. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I read the papers sent by Miss X and discussed the complaint with her.
  2. I considered the Council’s comments about the complaint and any supporting documents it provided.
  3. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Key Facts

  1. Miss X moved into her new property on 16 December 2019. The Council’s records show she telephoned on 30 December to tell them of her change of address.
  2. The housing benefit officer called Miss X on 17 January 2020 but she did not answer.
  3. The Council reassessed Miss X’s housing benefit claim on 28 January 2020 to £429 per week, paid directly to her landlord. The letter explained that she had a right to appeal against the decision.
  4. Miss X spoke to the housing benefit team on 3 February to query the evidence needed for her housing benefit application. On 4 February 2020 the Council wrote to Miss X to say that her housing benefit claim was terminated from 30 January as the DWP had told them she was claiming Universal Credit.
  5. Miss X emailed the Council on 17 March 2020. She said that ‘I was advised by my landlord to apply for Universal Credit for housing costs as I would be better off. However, housing benefit advised this would not be allowed so her original claim for universal credit was cancelled’. The Council has said that as Miss X was in temporary accommodation she needed to continue to apply for housing benefit rather than universal credit for her housing costs. The Council has paid Miss X housing benefit from 16 December 2019, with the amount being reduced for some periods due to her wages.
  6. On 7 April 2020 the Council wrote to Miss X to say it reinstated her housing benefit from 13 February 2020, at £500 per week.
  7. On 9 November 2020 the Council paid Miss X £2929 to help cover her rent arrears from 16 March 2020 until 9 November 2020.

My analysis

  1. The Council has said it was wrong to cancel Miss X’s housing benefit. It has apologised, offered a remedy and reinstated her claim. This is separate matter to this complaint.
  2. Miss X has raised a new complaint with the Ombudsman, on one specific point. Miss X says the housing officer told her on the telephone to claim Universal Credit rather than housing benefit. There is no record of this in the Council’s files.
  3. Miss X asked the Council for a copy of all telephone calls she made in June 2020. The Council said that it only keeps telephone calls for 3 months, so it no longer had records of the calls she wanted from January and February at that point.
  4. I can find no evidence the Council told Miss X she should claim Universal Credit. On the contrary, the evidence from the Council’s telephone records says that ‘she was given the wrong advice through her landlord’. There is also an email from Miss X which says she was advised by her landlord to claim Universal Credit.

Final decision

  1. I have completed my investigation of this complaint. This complaint is not upheld as I have found no evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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