Summary: We will not investigate how the Council is recovering an overpayment of housing benefit from the complainant. It is unlikely we would find fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr B, has complained about how the Council is recovering an overpayment of housing benefit from him. In particular, he says the Council is collecting too much from his earnings which does not leave him enough money to live on.

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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. The law says we cannot normally 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these.
5. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if, for example, 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

6. I have considered what Mr B said in his complaint and the Council’s responses to his concerns.

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What I found

7. Mr B received housing benefit from the Council. In 2015 the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) gave the Council information about Mr B’s household income. The Council recalculated Mr B’s entitlement to housing benefit and decided it had paid him about £18,000 too much. As this arose because Mr B had not provided full information about his financial circumstances, the Council decided the overpayment was recoverable from him.
8. Mr B had a right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal against the Council’s decision there had been a recoverable overpayment. In the absence of any successful appeal, I consider the Council is not at fault in seeking to recover the overpayment from Mr B.
9. The Council suggested Mr B make monthly payments based on financial assessments. Mr B did not agree to this and so the Council has used a Direct Earnings Attachment to recover the overpayment from his income. I understand in November 2020 the remaining overpayment stood at around £17,000.
10. Mr B believes the Council should reduce the amount deducted from his earnings. However, Council does not decide the level of deduction. This is set out in the Social Security (Overpayments and Recovery) Regulations 2013, as amended.

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Final decision

11. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find fault by the Council in how it has sought to recover the overpayment from Mr B.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman