Summary: Ms X complains she claimed housing benefit, but the Council did not advise her she must claim universal credit. She says had to borrow money due to the Council’s failure to properly advise her. We found the Council was at fault and recommended a remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Ms X, complains the Council failed to advise her to claim universal credit after she made a claim for housing benefit. As a result, she had to borrow money and lost out on nearly £3000 in benefit.

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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 discussed the complaint with the complainant and considered the complaint and the copy correspondence provided by the complainant. I have made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided. Ms X and the Council now have an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I will consider their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Housing benefit and universal credit

5. Housing benefit is administered by local authorities to help people on low incomes with their rent payments.
6. Universal credit was introduced in 2013 as a replacement for certain means-tested benefits and is administered by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). It was phased in, with claims accepted from wider groups, on an area-by -area basis. When this process was complete an area became a full-service area.
7. Under the Universal Credit Regulations 2014, from July 2018, new claims for housing benefit in the Council’s area were limited to claimants who had three or more children, or living in supported accommodation or of pension age. Any person not within these categories had to claim the housing cost element of universal credit.

What happened

8. In early 2020 the Council was paying Ms X council tax support. The Council had also previously paid her housing benefit, but this had stopped in 2018.
9. In February 2020 Ms X’s son moved out. She visited the Council’s housing office and handed in a claim form. The form was headed “Claim form for housing benefit and council tax support.” The form included questions relating to “Your tenancy” and “Your rent” which Ms X had completed.
10. The form asked whether the claimant was making a new claim or telling the Council about a change in circumstances. Ms X says she did not fill this in, but she spoke to the officer and explained she did not know what to put. She says the officer told her not to worry about this. The copy of the form I have seen shows both boxes were ticked. However, the “new claim” box was then crossed out.
11. Ms X had completed the pages in the form about her tenancy, her rent, and her landlord. She advised that her adult son had moved out.
12. The Council assessed Ms X’s council tax support claim within a week and sent her a notification letter. This confirmed that she was entitled to an increase in her council tax support. The Council did not advise Ms X about housing benefit, or advise that she should claim universal credit.
13. Ms X says that she visited the Council’s housing office in March 2020 to ask about her housing benefit claim. However, the Council’s system was down so the officer was not able to check her claim. She says that the officer advised her to wait.
14. Ms X says she also had telephone contact with the Council in April and June, but heard nothing back about her housing benefit claim. However, the Council has no record of any contact by Ms X between February and August 2020.
15. On 6 August 2020 Ms X emailed the Council and asked how it calculated her son’s wages. She also said that she was struggling to pay her rent. On 2 September Ms X emailed the Council to say she was trying to claim housing benefit but not council tax support as the Council was already paying this.
16. The Council advised Ms X to claim universal credit on 7 September 2020. It said that it could not pay her housing benefit as it was no longer available to working age claimants.
17. Ms X claimed universal credit, but it does not appear that she asked for backdating. Her entitlement including housing costs started 10 September 2020
18. Ms X complained to the Council on 9 September that it failed to advise her to claim universal credit earlier. She said the Council’s officer took her form but did not take any of the documents she had because there was an open claim. The Council had only just advised her after seven months of going round in circles that she should claim universal credit.
19. The Council responded on 20 October at stage one of its complaints procedure. It apologised for its delay and said that it had treated her claim in February as a change in circumstances to her council tax support. This was because she had ticked the change of circumstances box on the form. The Council said that it was not until September that she had advised she wanted to claim housing benefit.
20. Ms X complained further that she completed a form for both council tax support and housing benefit. She said the Council did not notify her that she was not entitled to housing benefit. She had borrowed money from her family while she was waiting for the Council to respond.
21. The Council replied on 27 November, saying it had tried to call her. It said that as Ms X had ticked change in circumstances on the form it had treated it as such. The Council’s notification letter in February 2020 had advised her of her entitlement to council tax support only. It was not until August 2020 that she contacted the Council again.
22. Ms X replied that she had not ticked the form to say it was a change in circumstances. In addition, she had completed a full form for both housing benefit and council tax support. If she had wanted to claim council tax support, she would have filled in a single form for council tax support.
23. The Council responded at stage two that when it received her claim for both housing benefit and council tax support in February 2020, the Council was only paying council tax support. The Council adjusted her council tax support claim early in February and sent her a letter. But it had no record of her enquiring about her housing benefit.
24. The Council confirmed it had previously asked officers in its customer services team to advise customers handing in a full housing benefit claim that they should claim universal credit. The Council also said that it had asked its benefits team to send a letter to customers submitting a new housing benefit claim form, advising that the Council was unable to pay housing benefit and that they should claim universal credit.
25. However, the Council said that its website provided information that most working age customers could no longer claim housing benefit but must claim universal credit.
26. The Council fully accepted that it had no records to show that its customer service team advised Ms X to claim universal credit or that its benefits team explained this to her in a letter following its letter of 5 February 2020 which confirmed her council tax support entitlement. The Council apologised for these errors and said it had reminded both teams that they must provide appropriate information about claiming universal credit.

Analysis

27. The Council accepts that there is no evidence its customer service officer advised Ms X she should claim universal credit when she handed in her claim form. The Council says it has asked its customer services team to advise customers submitting a full housing benefit form to claim universal credit. As Ms X’s form was headed council tax support and housing benefit and contained responses regarding rent and her tenancy, I would have expected the Council to advise her to claim universal credit.
28. I consider there was apparent fault by the Council because its customer service officer did not recognise the potential housing benefit claim or did not make sufficient enquiries about this to find out if Ms X intended to claim housing benefit. There appears to have been confusion whether the claim was a change of circumstances or a new claim, because both options were initially ticked. However, I do not have sufficient evidence about what was said when Ms X handed in her form.
29. The Council’s benefits team did not send a letter regarding claiming universal credit when it assessed Ms X’s council tax support. I consider this was fault.
30. However, I have not seen sufficient evidence that Ms X took appropriate action to enquire about her housing benefit claim between February and August 2020. The Council has no records of her attempting to contact it. I would have expected her to make enquiries in writing or to make a complaint about the delay. This would have mitigated the loss in Ms X’s benefit. I must take this into account when considering a remedy.
31. I have seen evidence that Ms X told the Council on 6 August 2020 that she was struggling with her rent. This should have alerted the Council to Ms X’s enquiry about housing benefit. However, it was not until 7 September 2020 that the Council advised Ms X to claim universal credit. This delay was fault.

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Agreed action

32. I recommended the Council, within 6 weeks of my decision, pays Ms X £500 in view of its failure to advise her to claim universal credit earlier. The Council was aware by 6 August 2020 that Ms X wanted to claim housing benefit but did not advise her until 7 September. Ms X was caused anxiety and uncertainty regarding the potential to claim universal credit and she was put to and time and trouble.

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Final decision

33. I have found fault by the Council causing injustice to Ms X. The Council has agreed a remedy and so I have completed my investigation and closed the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman