Summary: A man complained that the Council was unreasonably claiming it had overpaid him housing benefit. But we cannot investigate this complaint because the man has already appealed to a statutory tribunal about this matter.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall call Mr B, complained that the Council was wrongly claiming back an overpayment of housing benefit (HB) from him. Mr B said the Council had made a mistake about the amount of his earnings.

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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. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
3. 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

4. I considered the information Mr B provided with his complaint. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr B is in dispute with the Council about its demand that he should repay HB it claims to have overpaid him. But Mr B has already put in an appeal about this matter and his case is currently with HM Courts & Tribunals Service waiting to be considered. In the circumstances we cannot start an investigation of Mr B’s complaint because of the legal restriction I refer to in paragraph 2 above.

Final decision

6. We cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint that the Council is wrongly claiming he should repay overpaid housing benefit. This is because Mr B has already used his right of appeal to a statutory tribunal about this matter.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman