Bath and North East Somerset Council (24 006 433)
Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 04 Nov 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the overpayment of housing benefit as there is a right of appeal to the Tribunal.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council wrongly stated he was responsible for his son, Mr Y’s, housing benefit overpayments when it was the result of fault by the Council.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
- 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
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) asked Mr Y to repay £5,600 in housing benefit overpayments.
- Mr X says the Council asked him to say that he is responsible for Mr Y’s housing benefit overpayments. Mr X says this is not true and the Council wrongly claimed the housing benefit for Mr Y.
- Any dispute about recovery can be appealed to Tribunal. The Tribunal is an independent body which can decide any dispute about such decisions. I see no reason why an appeal could not be made, so the complaint is out of jurisdiction.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because he has a right of appeal to the Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman