Stoke-on-Trent City Council (21 008 971)
Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 15 Nov 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a housing benefit overpayment which arose in 2019. This is because it is a late complaint, and the complainant could have used his appeal rights.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains that the Council is trying to recover a housing benefit overpayment.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a housing benefit overpayment. This is because this is a late complaint. The overpayment occurred in 2019, and I see no reason why Mr X could not have complained about the matter sooner.
- Mr X could also have used his appeal rights if he disagreed with the Council’s decision. The Council has made Mr X of this right, but no appeal has been submitted. If Mr X had submitted an appeal and the Council rejected it, he could have then appealed to the the Social Entitlement Chamber, which is a tribunal. It is reasonable for Mr X to have used these appeal rights.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the complaint is late and it is reasonable to expect him to use his right of appeal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman