London Borough of Barnet (22 014 864)
Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 23 Feb 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s recovery of housing benefit overpayments from Mrs X. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mrs X could not have complained to us sooner.
The complaint
- Mrs X complained about the Council recovering housing benefits overpayments which she says date back as far as 2010. She says she was unaware of the extent of the overpayments and it is unreasonable for the Council to recover them after so long.
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
- Mrs X received housing benefit overpayments in 2011 and 2018 for changes in her circumstances which were not notified to the Council resulting in overpayments of benefit to her account. The Council says it issued notification for these overpayments at the time and that Mrs X was also informed of her right to a review and appeal to the Benefits Tribunal.
- Mrs X says it is unreasonable for the Council to recover debts from 12 years ago and it should have notified her earlier. The Council says the overpayments were for changes in her address and family members status and they are still payable.
- Mrs X made a formal complaint about the recovery in 2021 and the Council explained at the time where the debts originated. It was reasonable for her to raise the matter with us within 12 months of becoming aware of the recovery of the overpayments. There is I have seen no evidence to suggest that Mrs X could not have complained to us sooner.
Final decision
- We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s recovery of housing benefit overpayments from Mrs X. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mrs X could not have complained to us sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman