Summary: Mr X complains about delay by the Council in recovering an overpayment of housing benefit. We will not investigate this complaint because the matter is out of time, he had a right of appeal to a tribunal and the matter has been remedied.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about delay by the Council in recovering an overpayment of housing benefit.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. 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)
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions a council has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
5. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I have considered the comments of the complainant and the Council and the complainant was given an opportunity to comment on the draft decision.

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What I found

7. Mr X says that he told the Council in December 2012 that he started work and this would affect his housing benefit entitlement.
8. The Council says that three overpayments of housing benefit were identified between 2012 and 2013 and Mr X was told of this in 2013. Mr X complained but the Council rebutted his complaint.
9. The Council wrote to Mr X again in 2017 to confirm the debt was correct but no action was taken until 2020 when the Council decided to recover the debt though an Attachment of Earnings Order.
10. The housing benefit has now been recovered apart from £481 which the Council has written off.
11. Mr X could reasonably have made a complaint to this office in 2014 and again in 2017 so I consider this complaint is out of time. Further, he had a right of appeal to a tribunal to dispute the recovery. The Council also wrote off a significant amount which would remedy (in our opinion) any injustice caused to Mr X by the delay. For these reasons the Ombudsman would not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

12. I do not intend to investigate this complaint because the matter is out of time, there was a right of appeal to a tribunal and the matter has been remedied to the Ombudsman’s satisfaction.
     

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman