Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to reclaim an overpayment of housing benefit from the complainant. This is because he has a right of appeal to a tribunal about the matter.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that the Council is wrongly claiming back an overpayment of housing benefit paid to him and that is has failed to respond to his correspondence about this matter.

Back to top

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. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review 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 use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (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)
6. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

My assessment

9. In 2015, the Council wrote to Mr X to inform him that it was reclaiming an overpayment of housing benefit. Mr X contacted the Council in March 2017 about the matter and was informed of his right of appeal. Mr X submitted an appeal in December 2018 which the Council concluded was made late. Mr X disputed the Council’s decision at the time.
10. Mr X contacted the Council about the matter in 2021 and submitted a further appeal in June 2022. Mr X contacted the Council again in September 2023 and contacted the Ombudsman at the same time.
11. The Council says it has referred the matter to the Tribunals Service who the Council says are considering a late appeal. Mr X says he has not heard from the Tribunals Service, and they do not recognise the reference number the Council gave Mr X.
12. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. If a late appeal has been submitted, then we would have no discretion to investigate Mr X’s complaint because we cannot investigate matters that have been appealed to a tribunal.
13. If Mr X believes that no appeal has been made to the Tribunals Service, then it would be reasonable for him to exercise his right of appeal and submit a late application.
14. Even if there were matters that were separate from those that Mr X has a right of appeal for, we would not investigate them. This is because the complaint is late, and I see no good reason why Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

Back to top

Final decision

15. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has right of appeal to a tribunal that it would be reasonable for him to use.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman