London Borough of Hounslow (21 015 664)
Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 07 Mar 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council calculated the complainant’s housing benefit and raised an overpayment. This is because the complainant can use her review and appeal rights.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, disagrees with the decisions the Council has made about her housing benefit and council tax support. She says the Council should calculate her benefit using her earnings for the full tax year.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
- The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council. I also considered our Assessment Code and invited Ms X to comment on a draft of this decision.
My assessment
- Ms X disagrees with the way the Council has assessed her housing benefit and council tax support. She says the Council should base its decisions on her earnings for the full tax year. Ms X says the Council has not done this and she disagrees with the amount of benefit awarded and she disputes an overpayment.
- The Council invited Ms X to appeal. It has also revised and increased her benefit entitlement from December and awarded a Discretionary Housing Payment.
- I will not investigate this complaint because Ms X can use her review and appeal rights. It is reasonable to expect Ms X to appeal because the tribunal is free to use and is the appropriate body to deal with benefits disputes. The tribunal can decide if the Council calculated Ms X’s benefit claims correctly and if she has to repay an overpayment.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint because Ms X can use her review and appeal rights.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman