Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint which was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner about a housing benefit overpayment.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council pursuing him for a housing benefit overpayment which was generated in 2017. He says he believed the debt had been written off and is unable to appeal against it now because it is out of time.

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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 provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, 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 considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X received notification of a housing benefit overpayment in 2017. This covered the period 2013 to 2017 when the Council says he received benefit but was not occupying his council tenancy. He attended an interview with a solicitor about the matter in May 2017 but declined to co-operate with the benefits department.
8. The Council subsequently found the property abandoned and it had no contact address for Mr X to pursue the overpayment. In 2019 Mr X contacted the Council about another matter and the overpayment was pursued once again with his new address as the basis. Mr X asked to appeal against the overpayment decision, but the Council advised him that he was beyond the 13-month timescale for accepting an appeal. The overpayment remains recoverable.
9. We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint because it was received outside 12 months from when Mr X became aware of the decision. If he had complained within 12 months of being notified of the decision, we would have advised him to seek a remedy by way of an appeal to the independent benefits tribunal which is the proper authority to consider such appeals.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint which was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner about a housing benefit overpayment.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman