London Borough of Enfield (20 010 576)
Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 08 Mar 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Ms X complains about the Council’s decision to recover overpaid housing benefit. We will not investigate this complaint because she can appeal against the decision to a tribunal.
The complaint
- Ms X complains about the Council’s decision to recover overpaid housing benefit.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
- 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)
- We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered the comments of the complainant and the Council and the complainant was given an opportunity to comment on the draft decision.
What I found
- Ms X says that the Council recovered £1,000 from her account because they said there had been an overpayment of housing benefit.
- The Council says that her subsequent letter of appeal did not have their consent as it was sent by their daughter.
- The Ombudsman cannot investigate a complaint where a right of appeal to a tribunal has been used. In this case the matter was appealed. Although the Council will not accept the appeal as consent was not obtained, this should not prevent the appeal being pursued if the consent is provided. The question of whether the overpayment can be legitimately recovered will then be a matter for the tribunal.
- The tribunal is an expert body and their decisions are binding on the Council. I see no reason why an appeal could not be made in this case.
Final decision
- I do not intend to investigate this complaint because this is a matter for the tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman