Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s creation of housing benefit overpayments which were made on Miss X’s rent account. It was reasonable for her to challenge them by appealing to the independent benefits tribunal. We will not exercise discretion to consider her complaint that a compensation payment was paid into her rent account which was in arrears against her wishes. This complaint which was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have complained to us sooner.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council adding housing benefit overpayments onto different rent accounts which she had held over the past five years. She says she believed that most of these debts had been cleared previously. She also complained about the Council paying a recommended compensation payment from the Housing Ombudsman into a different rent account to the one she asked it to.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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)
4. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Miss X says the Council issued housing benefit overpayments to her account over a number of years without showing her why they occurred. This was the subject of a previous complaint reference 18006855 which she made to us in 2018 and which was closed in 2019. We decided in that complaint that the Council advised Miss X of her right to appeal to the independent benefits tribunal and that it was reasonable for her to do so.
8. The Ombudsman cannot establish whether individual housing benefit payments have been made correctly. The tribunal is the proper authority to determine this. Since our previous investigation Miss X has had further overpayments added to different addresses where she had lived. It was reasonable for her to have challenged these overpayments at the time by way of appeal
9. Miss X also complained about the Council crediting a recommended £150 compensation payment by the Housing Ombudsman service to the rent account of one of the former tenancies for which she owned rent arrears. She says she asked for the amount to be credited to a different account. The Council says that no account was specified at the time and it credit the amount to an account with housing-related debt.
10. The amount was credited in 2020 and we will not consider this matter now because it is outside the normal 12-month period for making a complaint. There is no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have complained to us sooner.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s creation of housing benefit overpayments which were made on Miss X’s rent account. It was reasonable for her to challenge them by appealing to the independent benefits tribunal. We will not exercise discretion to consider her complaint that a compensation payment was paid into her rent account which was in arrears against her wishes. This complaint which was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have complained to us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman