Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council not telling an organisation about the time limit for backdating housing benefit. There is no direct link between the Council’s alleged fault and the organisation not receiving some rent.

The complaint

1. Mr X represents an organisation (‘the Organisation’) providing accommodation for people with disabilities. He complains on the Organisation’s behalf that the Council did not tell the Organisation that the Council could only backdate housing benefit (HB) claims by one month. He says this resulted in the Organisation not receiving around £700 of HB in respect of one of its tenants on whose behalf the Organisation made a HB claim over one month after the start of that person’s tenancy. Mr X says he has also been to time and trouble dealing with the matter.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating or any fault has not directly caused injustice to the person who complained. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and copy complaint correspondence from the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council does not have a duty to ensure the Organisation receives the tenants’ rent. That is between the Organisation, as the landlord, and its tenants. The Council’s duty is to individual tenants who claim HB and the duty is to decide each HB claim when it receives it and in line with the rules.
6. This complaint is from the Organisation in its own right about how matters have affected it; the complaint is not from or on behalf of the tenant. As I have explained, the Council had no direct duty to the HA in terms of HB claims. So any potential fault by the Council here – and I am not saying there was any such fault – would not link directly to the Organisation not receiving some rent. There would only be an indirect link because the Council’s duty was to the claimant (the tenant) and the Council’s relationship with the landlord (the Organisation) was only indirect.
7. Also, the Council did not have a duty to tell the Organisation in advance about every factor that might a HB decisions, including the limits on backdating. As I have explained, the Council’s main role was to decide the claim once it received it. The Organisation is a professional organisation, many of whose tenants are likely to claim HB to pay their rent. Therefore the onus was on the Organisation to ensure it found out about any relevant factors, including the HB backdating rules, rather than expecting the Council to tell it.
8. It is therefore unlikely any investigation by the Ombudsman would find fault by the Council that directly deprived the Organisation of rent.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate the Organisation’s complaint. This is mainly because there is no direct causal link between any fault by the Council and any significant injustice to the Organisation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman