London Borough of Ealing (22 015 138)
Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 27 Feb 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an overpayment of housing benefit as he has a right of appeal to a tribunal.
The complaint
- Mr X says that the Council provided misleading information about an overpayment of housing benefit.
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 the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X was sent a letter from the Council in July 2022 which stated that there had been an overpayment of housing benefit of £2841 but this had been recovered from an underpayment of housing benefit.
- Mr X says that he later received a letter from the Council which stated that the overpayment was still to be recovered.
- The Council provided an explanation for the apparently misleading information. Nevertheless, the decision to recover an overpayment of housing benefit can only be challenged by an appeal to the tribunal. The tribunal is an expert body and their decisions are binding on the Council. I see no reason why an appeal could not be made in this case.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman