Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council placing the complainant on the Local Housing Allowance system of benefits payment in 2005. This complaint 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’s decision to place her on the Local Housing Allowance system when the Council became a ‘pathfinder’ authority for trialling this system. She says her tenancy started in 1991 and she should have bene protected from moving onto this payment scheme. As a result recent changes to her rent have left her with a shortfall in benefit coverage.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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

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

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My assessment

5. Miss X says she was moved to the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) system in 2005 without the Council notifying her of this or her rights to appeal at the time. In 2017 she challenged the decision because she says she may have a shortfall of benefit if there were future rent increases. She claimed that she was protected from being moved to the new system under a 2008 ruling which exempted tenants with older tenancies from being [placed on the LHA scheme.
6. Miss X employed the services of a benefits consultant to make her case to the Council in 2017. However, the Council considered that the 2008 ruling did not apply to her case and she was moved to the correct payment system. It told her representative that the decision letters form 2005 were no longer retained due to data processing regulations so it could not provide copies.
7. In 2018 Miss X employed a local law centre to contact the Council about the matter. She did not raise the matter again with the Council until 2023 when she was advised of a rent increase which may not be covered by benefits. After receiving the Council’s refusal to accept fault she complained to us.
8. The legislation from which the Ombudsman takes his powers also places some restrictions on what we can investigate. One of these restrictions relates to complaints about matters which the complainant was aware of more than 12 months before they brought it to our attention. This restriction applies to Miss X’s complaint. It is clear she challenged the decision to move her to LHA payments as long ago as 2017. There is no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have complained to us sooner.

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Final decision

9. We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council placing the complainant on the Local Housing Allowance system of benefits payment in 2005. This complaint 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