Summary: Miss B complained that the Council failed to advise her correctly about her benefit entitlement when she became unemployed. The Council has agreed to pay £100 to Miss B.

The complaint

1. Miss B complained that the London Borough of Hackney (the Council) failed to advise her that she should claim Universal Credit during a telephone call in January 2019, failed to keep records of her telephone calls and failed to make notes of the content of the calls. As a result, Miss B lost out on six weeks of Universal Credit.

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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’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. 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

4. I have considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant, made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided. Miss B 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

5. Miss B contacted the Council on 14 January 2019 to enquire about her benefit entitlement as she had recently become unemployed. She was already in receipt of housing benefit. She asked if she needed to apply for Universal Credit (a benefit administered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)). She says the Council told her she did not need to apply for universal credit as she had an ongoing housing benefit claim.
6. She says she also emailed the Council four times in January but received no response. She also telephoned twice more. She received letters about her housing benefit claim on 21 January 2019. She visited the Council on 25 February 2019 as she had no money and her rent was due. In response to Mis B’s query, the Council advised her that she needed to go to the Job Centre to apply for Universal Credit. She did this and started to receive £79.25 per week from 21 March 2019.
7. She complained to the Council on 25 March 2019 that it should have told her earlier to apply for universal credit and the failure to do so meant she missed out on six weeks of benefit payments. She provided copies of the emails she had sent in January 2019. They stated that her employment had ended on 12 January 2019 and she was waiting for her P45 and payslips.
8. The Council replied on 10 May 2019. It said it had identified a call from Miss B to the Council on 14 January 2019, lasting six minutes but no notes had been made on Miss B’s housing benefit file. The Council said it only keeps call recordings for three months and it had been destroyed. It noted two further calls on 23 and 28 January 2019 where Miss B enquired about her claim and her change of circumstances. On 25 February 2019 when Miss B visited the offices, the Council advised her to claim Universal Credit.
9. The Council apologised for not responding to her emails, saying it should have responded within ten working days. It acknowledged her concerns about not being signposted to claim Universal Credit but said she needed to contact the DWP about this and to make a backdated claim.
10. Miss B did not pursue her complaint until January 2020 when she wrote to the Council again. She said the Council should have kept the call recordings, made a note on her file and responded to her emails.
11. The Council replied in February 2020. It noted that calls are kept for three months. It did not receive Miss B’s complaint until 1 April 2019 and did not register it until 11 April 2019. It was allocated to an investigator on 17 April 2019 by which time the call recording had been destroyed. It found fault here. It also found fault with the failure to make a note of the call with Miss B on 14 January 2019. It said it had reminded staff to always make a note of customer enquiries and the advice given.
12. It noted that the Council had not responded to her emails of 14 and 21 January 2019 but considered the Council had responded in full on 21 and 31 January 2019.
13. The Council concluded that although it was unable to establish if Miss B had been given incorrect information during the telephone call on 14 January 2019, she had had further opportunities to raise the question in her correspondence with the Council. It also noted Miss B had not asked about universal credit for living costs in any of her correspondence.
14. Miss B then complained to us. She said, after searching online, she was not sure whether to apply for universal credit, so she asked the Council for advice. She says the DWP refused her backdating claim.

Analysis

15. The Council accepts it was fault not to have made a note of the advice given to Miss B on 14 January 2019 and not to have dealt with Miss B’s complaint more quickly so the call recording could have been checked. I agree that this was fault.
16. It seems likely that the Council did not advise Miss B on 14 January 2019 to contact the DWP regarding a possible universal credit claim, but this is impossible to establish given the lack of records. I agree it is not the Council’s role to advise a person whether or not to claim universal credit, but I think it should signpost people to the DWP as the correct agency to give that advice. It advised Miss B to contact the DWP on 25 February 2019 and I consider it should have done so on 14 January 2019.
17. However, I also consider Miss B could have made more enquiries and contacted the DWP to establish the correct position. Her emails of 14 and 21 January 2019 to the Council did not ask any questions or refer at all to universal credit.
18. Overall, I consider the Council’s delay in providing the correct advice and its failure to keep accurate records caused Miss B some uncertainty in addition to her time and trouble in pursuing the matter.

Agreed action

19. The Council has already taken steps to remind staff of the need to keep accurate records and signpost people correctly. But in recognition of the injustice caused to Miss B, I asked the Council (within one month of the date of my final decision) to pay Miss B £100.
20. The Council has agreed to my recommendation.

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Final decision

21. I consider this is a proportionate way of putting right the injustice caused to Miss B and I have completed my investigation on this basis.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman