Summary: Mr D complained on behalf of his mother, Mrs X. He complained the Council wrongly cancelled her benefit claims, failed to reinstate them when provided with evidence and that staff were rude and unhelpful. We find the Council was at fault for delay and wrongly cancelling Mrs X’s benefit claims and for failing to clearly explain what documents were sufficient for proof of address. This caused Mrs X and her family distress, anxiety, confusion, and put her and her family to the time and trouble of making a complaint. We have not found fault with the Council for suspending Mrs X’s claims while it investigated her claim. We have made no findings about Mrs X’s complaint that staff were rude and unhelpful. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mr D complains on behalf of his mother Mrs X. He complains the Council wrongly cancelled Mrs X’s Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction claims. Mr D said this led to her receiving a notice seeking possession from her landlord.
2. Mr D said this has caused his mother distress, affected her mental and physical health, caused confusion and uncertainty, and put her to the time and trouble of complaining. He also said it has also caused his wider family distress and anxiety and put them to the time and trouble of complaining.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice.’ If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
5. We may investigate complaints made on behalf of someone else if they have given their consent. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(1), as amended)
6. When considering complaints, if there is a conflict of evidence, we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we will weigh up the available relevant evidence and base our findings on what we think was more likely to have happened.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I have considered all the information Mrs X and Mr D have sent in support of her complaint. I have also made enquiries with the Council and have considered the documentation it has sent.
8. Mrs X, Mr D and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I have considered the comments from Mr D and the Council before making a final decision.

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What I found

Legislation

Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2001.

9. The Council may suspend in whole or in part any payment of housing benefit or council tax benefit if it appears to the Council the conditions of entitlement of housing or council tax benefit are not being fulfilled.

What happened

10. In early September 2021 the Council reviewed Mrs X’s housing benefit claim. It sent a benefits notification letter to Mrs X’s home address a few days later.
11. The Council said Mrs X’s unopened letter was returned to it in early November 2021.
12. Due to this, the Council suspended Mrs X’s claim for housing benefit and council tax reduction in late January 2022. The Council said it needed to make enquiries and sent Mrs X a letter explaining it had suspended her benefits claim and asked her to provide two utility bills as proof of residency.
13. Both Mrs X and her son, Mr D contacted the Council in February 2022. He asked the Council to explain why it had suspended Mrs X’s housing benefit and council tax reduction benefit claims. Mrs X also asked about a Household Support Fund and the Council advised her to apply online for a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP). The Council said it also told Mrs X to upload two utility bills to its website as proof of residency at the address.
14. Mr D uploaded two utility bills to the Council’s website on 16 February 2022.
15. The Council’s notes show Mr D called a few weeks later to chase the housing benefit claim. The Council said it was unable to discuss Mrs X’s case due to data protection issues.
16. Mrs X called the Council in early March 2022 and gave Mr D authority to speak on her behalf. The Council accepted Mr D had uploaded documentation, however, it told him the bills were too old. Following this, Mr D attended the Council’s offices to deliver the utility bills.
17. The Council said Mrs X provided further utility bills as proof of address. However, on reviewing the documents it cancelled Mrs X’s claim. It noted the bills were over three months old and it did not consider this was satisfactory proof of address.
18. Mrs X was served with a notice seeking possession from her landlord due to increasing rent arrears. Mrs X said this was due to her housing benefit suspension and cancellation.
19. Mrs X submitted further evidence as proof of address in mid-April 2022.
20. The Council reviewed Mrs X’s submissions of proof of address and decided to re-instate Mrs X’s claim on 20 April 2022. It backdated Mrs X’s claims for council tax reduction and housing benefit to late January 2022.
21. Mrs X’s daughter complained to the Council on her mother’s behalf in June 2022. The complaint letter said:

• The Council had wrongly suspended Mrs X’s benefit claims.
• The Council had falsely claimed Mrs X had moved out of her home address.
• Mrs X had been forced to request discretionary housing payments and struggled to pay for everyday items due to the Council’s mistakes.
• Mrs X had provided proof of address by uploading documents and attending the Council offices in person.
• Mrs X was living in constant fear she could become homeless since being served with the notice seeking possession.
• Mrs X’s mental and physical health had suffered because of the Council’s error.
• The Council should backdate her benefits claims.
• The Council had discriminated against Mrs X and staff were rude and unhelpful.

22. The Council responded under Stage One of its complaints procedure in July 2022. It apologised for delay and for failing to reinstate Mrs X’s claims in March 2022 when it had received proof of address. It said it had reinstated Mrs X’s claim in April 2022 and backdated this to January 2022. It also said:

• Mrs X’s earlier claims had been suspended in accordance with procedures due to the letter returned by post.
• Mrs X had not presented satisfactory proof of address until mid-March 2022.
• The Council had followed its procedure to protect public funds.
• It could find no evidence of discrimination and sought further and specific information about staff rudeness.
• It did not believe a financial remedy was suitable for Mrs X’s case.

23. Mrs X remained dissatisfied and asked the Council reassess her complaint under Stage Two of its complaint procedure.
24. The Council responded in August 2022. Its Stage Two letter said:

• It recognised Mrs X had provided it with proof of address, and it had wrongly cancelled her claims in late March 2022.
• It had reinstated Mrs X’s claim in April 2022, following its review of the evidence and had backdated this to January 2022.

• The Council had followed the correct procedures and on reviewing all the evidence it had found no fault in suspending Mrs X’s claim from late January.
• It offered Mrs X £50.00 to remedy the identified failings.

25. The Council also refused Mrs X’s request for a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) following assessment.
26. Mr D complained to the Ombudsman on Mrs X’s behalf in August 2022.

The Council’s response to my enquiries

27. The Council responded to my enquiries in late November 2022. It said:

• The Council had a duty to ensure housing benefit was correctly paid.
• On receiving the returned post, the Council was entitled to suspend Mrs X’s housing and council tax reduction claims to explore the possibility of her not being resident at the address given.
• It was sorry for the confusion caused to Mrs X for not properly explaining she should provide utility bills dated within the last three months.
• On further review it had decided to increase its monetary offer to £150 for the injustice caused to Mrs X.

Analysis

28. The Council has accepted it was at fault when it failed to clearly explain to Mrs X or her son, Mr D the evidence it would need to prove proof of address needed to no older than three months. If Mrs X and Mr D had been provided with clear information of what the Council needed from the outset, it is likely they would have sent the correct documentation and her claims would not have been cancelled. This was fault and caused Mrs X and Mr D confusion and put them to the time and trouble of complaining.
29. The Council also accepts it was at fault in failing to recognise the documents provided in March 2022 were sufficient to provide proof of residency. The Council reinstated Mrs X’s claims in April 2022. This fault caused Mrs X and her family distress, anxiety and put them to the time and trouble of complaining. This was a delay of just over one month. During this time, Mrs X was served by her landlord with a notice seeking possession. This caused Mrs X and her family further distress. On reviewing the evidence, on the balance of probabilities the landlord would not have issued this notice seeking possession if the Council had not cancelled Mrs X’s claims or if it had acted sooner in reinstating Mrs X’s benefits.
30. In recognition of the injustice caused the Council has apologised to Mrs X, offered her £150 and has reminded staff of the need to clearly explain documents need to be no older than three months to prove residency. While this goes someway to remedying the injustice caused, I consider an additional payment of £150 (making a total of £300) should be made in recognition of the injustice caused.
31. I have not found fault with the Council for its decision to suspend Mrs X’s claim in January 2022. This was a decision the Council was entitled to make and in the absence of fault I cannot criticize this.
32. I have also considered Mrs X’s complaint that Council staff were rude and unhelpful during telephone calls. In response to Mrs X, the Council asked for specific details of the call handlers name and dates and times of the incidents. It offered to investigate Mrs X’s concerns further. It also specified that it only kept recorded telephone calls for three months. I have seen no evidence Mrs X or other family members provided the Council with any further details for it to investigate these matters further. Therefore, in the absence of evidence I cannot make a finding on this part of the complaint and do not intend to pursue it further.

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Agreed action

33. By 12 May 2023 the Council will pay Mrs X £300 for the distress, anxiety and confusion caused by the faults identified in this decision.
34. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above action.

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Final decision

35. I find the Council was at fault for failing to clearly explain what documents Mrs X needed to provide to prove residency. I also find fault with the Council for cancelling and delaying the reinstatement of Mrs X’s benefits. I do not find fault with the Council for suspending Mrs X’s claims while it investigated her entitlement. I have made no findings on Mrs X’s complaint Council staff were rude and unhelpful. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice caused to Mrs X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman