London Borough of Enfield (23 007 443)
Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 10 Oct 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council paying housing benefit into Mr X’s company account in error. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.
The complaint
- Mr X complained about the Council informing him in early 2022 that it had paid housing benefit payments monthly into his company bank account when the landlord had changed but his bank details had not been amended. It required the money to be repaid because he was not legally entitled to keep it. Mr X says this has resulted in financial loss to his company and the Council should compensate him.
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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X received payments into his company bank account from April 2021 to January 2022 when they should have been changed to a different landlord bank account. The Council advised him in March 2022 that he had received payments of over £22,000 in error and that he was required to refund them even though this was through no fault of his own.
- Mr X initially denied the overpayments but in April he accepted that he had received them. The money was reclaimed but he asked the Council to compensate him for costs and financial loss to his company. In May 2022 the Council rejected his claim for compensation and maintained that an apology was sufficient as it had identified the payments and he was required to repay them.
- Mr X complained to us in August 2023 which is outside the 12 months period for receiving complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.
Final decision
- We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council paying housing benefit into Mr X’s company account in error. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman