Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint that the complainant cannot claim housing benefit. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because there were appeal rights the complainant could have used.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mrs X, complains the Council will not allow her to claim housing benefit on her new home. She wants the Council to reinstate the claim.

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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)
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 Council’s responses. I invited Mrs X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Housing benefit and Universal Credit

6. The Government is gradually phasing out housing benefit and providing help with rent through Universal Credit (UC) instead. This means that when a housing benefit claim ends the person cannot re-apply for housing benefit but must claim UC from the Department for Work and Pensions. These rules are set by the Government, not by the Council.

What happened

7. Mrs X was getting housing benefit. She moved and the Council ended her claim. The decision letter told Mrs X she could appeal to the tribunal if she disagreed with the decision to end the claim.
8. Mrs X tried to claim housing benefit for her new home. The Council told Mrs X she is no longer eligible for housing benefit and must apply for UC.
9. Mrs X is struggling to pay her rent and says the Council is pushing her to apply for UC. Mrs X wants the Council to reinstate the housing benefit.

Assessment

10. I will not start an investigation for the following reasons.
11. Mrs X could have appealed to the tribunal if she disagreed with the Council’s decision to end the previous claim. It is reasonable to expect her to appeal because the tribunal is the appropriate body to consider housing benefit disputes.
12. The law prevents people from re-claiming housing benefit when a claim ends. Instead the law says people must claim help with their housing costs through UC. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council because it correctly told Mrs X she could not reclaim housing benefit but must apply for UC.

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Final decision

13. I will not start an investigation because Mrs X could have appealed to the tribunal and because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman