London Borough of Tower Hamlets (22 013 500)
Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 31 Jan 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Mr X’s housing benefit. Mr X can reasonably use his right to appeal to a tribunal.
The complaint
- Mr X complains that the Council, after suspending and reinstating his housing benefit, did not then pay all the benefit it owed. He says this resulted in one week’s rent arrears and his landlord is threatening to evict him.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal about the same matter. 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and copy complaint correspondence from the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X believes the Council mistakenly failed to pay one week’s benefit after reinstating his housing benefit. He says the Council maintains there was no error. Mr X told me he knows he can appeal to a tribunal about whether the Council paid him the correct amount.
- The restriction in paragraph 2 applies. The law expressly provides the tribunal appeal right to deal with such disputes. So we normally expect benefit claimants to use the appeal right. The tribunal has the expertise to decide benefit entitlement. Unlike the Ombudsman, the tribunal has the power to overturn the Council’s decision and make a binding ruling. Mr X’s dyslexia might affect how straightforward he finds the appeal process, but he can ask the tribunal to make reasonable adjustments for this. For these reasons, I consider it reasonable to expect Mr X to use his appeal right.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he can reasonably use his right to appeal to the tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman