London Borough of Lambeth (23 000 431)
Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 11 May 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about council tax and housing benefit. There is not a good reason for the five-year delay in complaining to the Ombudsman.
The complaint
- Mr X complained the Council calculated his housing benefit and council tax based on the house being a three-bed property rather than two-bed. He says it then did not properly consider his complaint. He says this has had a financial impact and he wants the Council to recalculate his housing benefit.
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)
- 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)
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 complains about a decision the Council made in 2017, to treat his home as a three-bedroom property rather than two-bedroom. He appealed to the Council and it responded in 2018. Mr X says the Council failed to consider the part of his appeal that related to this matter, responding only to another issue instead.
- Council tax and housing benefit decisions usually come with appeal rights, and it would have been reasonable for Mr X to use his right to appeal via tribunal in 2018. The tribunal may not have considered the issue he complains to the Ombudsman about, however in any event it is now too late for us to consider the matter. The law requires complaints to be brought to us within 12 months of the person becoming aware of the issue. There is not a good reason for the five-year delay in this matter being brought to our attention.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s late complaint because there is not a good reason for the five-year delay in the complaint being brought to us.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman