Eastbourne Borough Council (21 017 730)
Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 31 Mar 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about housing benefit overpayment where the complainant was notified in 2018.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council contacted him in 2018 regarding an overpayment of housing benefit.
- Mr X further complains the Department for Work and Pensions contacted him in 2021 and are now seeking repayment of the amount notified to him by the Council in 2018, some three years later.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X made a complaint to the Council in July 2018 regarding housing benefit overpayment he had been notified of. A Stage 1 complaint response to this was issued in September 2018.
- Mr X made additional contact with the Council in August 2018 regarding a potential data breach by it. This was also addressed in the Stage 1 response.
- Mr X further complained to the Council about the data breach, enclosing correspondence from the Information Commissioner’s Office, in February 2019. This was treated as a Stage 2 complaint request by the Council.
- The Council issued a Stage 2 complaint response in March 2019 detailing responses regarding housing benefit overpayment and the alleged data breach.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because more than 12 months has elapsed since the original complaint was made and there is no good reason for us to exercise discretion to investigate further.
- If Mr X has recent and additional issues relating to housing benefit overpayment/repayment, he can approach us to make a complaint. This can only be done after Mr X has complained to the Council and it has issued a final response.
- Any complaint to us should be made promptly after receiving the Council’s final response.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman