Summary: We will not investigate this complaint the Council bullied Ms X between 2016 and 2017 when communicating with her about housing benefit. That is because the complaint is late. We will also not investigate Ms X’s complaint about overpayment of housing benefit. That is because the Council has referred her appeal to the Social Entitlement Tribunal.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council bullied and intimidated her between 2016 and 2017 when dealing with a previous decision about housing benefit overpayment. She also disagreed with a decision the Council sent her in 2023 about housing benefit overpayment between 2017 and 2020. She said the Council had delayed in completing the housing benefit assessment. She said the Council’s actions had destroyed her life. Ms X wants the Council to pay her compensation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)
4. 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)
5. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint the Council bullied her when dealing with her housing benefit claim between 2016 – 2017. That is because the complaint is late as the events took place more than twelve months ago. There is no good reason to investigate this complaint now.
9. We will also not investigate her complaint about the Council’s delay in completing a housing benefit assessment and its decision that it overpaid her housing benefit between 2017 and 2020. Any dispute about the recovery of overpayment is appealable to the Tribunal. The Tribunal is an independent, expert body whose decisions are binding on the Council. The Council has referred the matter to the Tribunal. That is the most appropriate way to resolve the dispute. Therefore, we will not investigate further.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because part of it is late, and the Tribunal is best placed to resolve any disputes about housing benefit overpayment.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman