Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about a housing benefit overpayment because the complainant could have appealed to the tribunal.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mrs X, complains about a housing benefit overpayment. She says she should not have to repay it because it was caused by an error by the Council.

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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. The Social Entitlement Chamber (also known as the Social Security Appeal Tribunal) is a tribunal that considers housing benefit appeals. (The Social Entitlement Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I read the complaint and the overpayment decision letters. I found out Mrs X has made a payment plan with the Council. I invited Mrs X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Housing benefit overpayments

6. If a council pays too much housing benefit to someone it will usually ask them to repay it. The law says an overpayment is recoverable unless it was caused by an official error and it was not reasonable to expect the person to realise they were receiving too much benefit. If someone disagrees with an overpayment decision they can appeal to the tribunal. The law says people should appeal within one month of the date of the decision they think is wrong. The tribunal can accept a late appeal up to 13 months from the date of the decision.

What happened

7. The Council issued overpayment decision letters to Mrs X in December 2018 and January 2019. The letters explained Mrs X’s appeal rights. The Council recovered the overpayment by deducting money from Mrs X’s on-going housing benefit. Mrs X did not appeal to the tribunal.
8. In late 2019 the Council closed the housing benefit claim. Mrs X still owed £9534 for the overpayment. In February 2020 the Council sent Mrs X an invoice to recover the rest of the overpayment.
9. Since then Mrs X has agreed a payment plan with the Council. Mrs X disputes the overpayment. She says she provided all the information she was asked to provide and the overpayment was caused by an error by the Council.

Assessment

10. I will not start an investigation because Mrs X could have appealed to the tribunal, in 2019, if she thought the overpayment decisions were wrong. It is reasonable to expect Mrs X to appeal because the tribunal is the appropriate body to consider disputes about housing benefit overpayments. The tribunal would have decided if the overpayment arose from an official error and if Mrs X had to repay any benefit. In addition, the Council notified Mrs X of her appeal rights.

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Final decision

11. I will not start an investigation because Mrs X could have used her appeal rights.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman