Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about advice given by the Council regarding benefit entitlement because there is no evidence of fault by the Council and he could pursue an appeal to a tribunal.

The complaint

1. Mr X says that the Council misadvised him about a right to claim Universal Credit.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X says that he asked the Council if he could claim help with his housing costs in September 2021. He says that the Council said he could not. However, he says that subsequently he was able to claim such costs from June 2022 following his claim.
6. The Council says that he was originally advised that any claim might be problematic as he lived with a close relative and he paid no rent. Any claim would be for housing costs as part of a Universal Credit claim which is not determined by the Council and is out of our jurisdiction. The Council says he was not told that he could not make a claim and was advised that he could try and then appeal if the claim was refused. The Council says that several attempts were made to discuss the claim with Mr X but with limited success. The Council advised him about claiming a Personal Payment (PIP) based on his disabilities.
7. Mr X may be able to backdate his Universal Credit claim through the DWP appeal system.
8. However, I am satisfied from the Council’s evidence that Mr X was properly advised of his of right to claim; their comment that such a claim might be refused did not prohibit Mr X from making a claim as it was only intended as advice. Ultimately any decision was for the DWP to make, and not the Council.
9. In the absence of fault, the Ombudsman would not investigate this matter further.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman