Cherwell District Council (24 008 780)
Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 20 Aug 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a housing benefit overpayment because a right of appeal to a tribunal has been used and the complaint is out of time.
The complaint
- Ms X complains that the Council have sought to recover a housing benefit overpayment from 2016.
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)
- 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 information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council says that Ms X was notified in October 2016 of an overpayment of housing benefit for the period May 2016 to September 2016. The Council adds that Ms X was sent invoices for the amount and she had discussions with Council officers about the decision but no appeal was made at that time.
- Ms X pursued a complaint about that decision in 2024 and the Council notified her that she had a right of appeal to the tribunal on the matter. She appealed to the tribunal and says that the tribunal refused the appeal as it was out of time (there is a maximum time limit of 13 months from the decision – with consent from the Tribunal Chair).
- The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint because an appeal to the tribunal has been used. Further, Ms X was aware of the matter in 2016 and it would have been reasonable to complaint to this office within 12 months. The complaint is therefore also out of time.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because she appealed to a Valuation Tribunal and the matter is out of time.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman