Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a housing benefit overpayment which led to the complainant being disqualified from the housing register. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council, it is a late complaint, and the complainant could have used her appeal rights.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, disputes a housing benefit overpayment which led to her being disqualified from the housing register. Ms X says she did not receive the housing benefit because the Council paid it to the landlord. Ms X wants an investigation and compensation.

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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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
3. 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)
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)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code and comments Ms X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

7. The allocations policy says people who have a housing benefit overpayment do not qualify for the housing register.
8. In 2014 and 2015 the Council asked Ms X to repay two housing benefit overpayments. It sent a reminder and invoice in 2016.
9. The Council disqualified Ms X from the housing register in 2020 because she had housing benefit overpayments. Ms X repaid the overpayments in 2021 and she has been on the housing register since late 2021.
10. Ms X disputes the overpayments and says she needs to move.
11. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. This is because the policy says people with a housing benefit overpayment do not qualify for the housing register.
12. Ms X disputes the overpayments. But, if she thought she had not been overpaid she could have used her review and appeal rights. It is reasonable to expect her to appeal because the tribunal is the appropriate body to consider disputes about overpayments.
13. Finally, this is a late complaint. Ms X has been aware of the overpayment since 2014 but she did not complain to us until August 2022. Ms X says the complaint is not late due to the pandemic but the housing benefit overpayments arose a long time before the pandemic started. I have not seen any good reason to accept a late complaint especially as Ms X had review and appeal rights she could have used in 2014 and 2015.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council, Ms X could have appealed, and it is a late complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman