Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about housing benefit overpayments. That is because the Council has not yet made a final decision whether to recover the overpayments. Any future decision is appealable to Tribunal.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council’s decision to recover housing benefit overpayments. She said it had not properly considered the medical evidence she provided when it considered whether to exercise its discretion to recover the overpayments.
2. Miss X wants the Council to write of the debt or enter independent mediation to help reach a resolution.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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)
5. 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)
6. 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 any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. The Council obtained a Court Order to recover Miss X’s housing benefit overpayments in March 2022. In response to my enquiries, it said it was not taking any recovery action as Miss X had an appeal in progress to the Tribunal about her Employment Support Allowance (ESA). The Council said it would review its decision on Miss X’s housing benefit following the outcome of her ESA appeal.
10. The Council has not yet made its final decision about the recovery of Miss X’s housing benefit overpayments. When it has made that decision, Miss X can appeal to the Tribunal if she disagrees with it. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint further.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the Council has not made a final decision about her housing benefit overpayments. When it does, that decision is appealable to Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman