Summary: Miss B complained that the Council had failed to reimburse her for the cost of all her utility bills in her temporary accommodation and was trying to recover housing benefit debts from her. We have not investigated the utility payments any further because Ms B was aware of the arrangement by March 2022 and could have complained about it at that point. We have not investigated the housing benefit issues because she was aware of some of the debts in 2023 and had a right of appeal against them. However the Council failed to deal with her complaint properly causing her to complain to us. The Council has agreed to pay her £100 and improve its complaint-handling procedures for the future.

The complaint

1. Miss B complained that the London Borough of Lewisham (the Council) failed to ensure her temporary accommodation provider reimbursed the cost of the utility bills since August 2021, in breach of the temporary accommodation agreement issued by the Council. It is also trying to recover a housing benefit debt and council tax debt from her without adequate explanation. Miss B says these matters have caused her financial hardship and distress in addition to the time and trouble of chasing up the Council.

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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)
3. If someone disagrees with a housing benefit decision they can ask the council for a review. If they have a review, and are not happy with the decision, they can then appeal to the tribunal. The law says people should appeal within one month of the date of the decision they think is wrong.
4. 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)
5. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
6. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

7. The council tax debt arose for a previous property she lived in prior to 2021. The events are too old for me to investigate now.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered evidence provided by Miss B and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
9. Miss B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

10. Miss B moved in other current temporary accommodation in August 2021. She signed a Temporary Accommodation agreement with the Council which said:

“You are NOT responsible for paying utility bills and council tax whilst in this type of accommodation.”

11. She signed an occupancy agreement with the accommodation provider (AP) which said:

“You here by accept as part of this agreement full responsibility for all charges to the property these are inclusive of gas electricity and council tax [sic].”

12. Miss B says AP paid £30 per week each for gas and electricity but she had to pay more on top of this for which AP has refused to reimburse. She said the property is draughty and difficult to heat. She has paid approximately £2000.
13. In June 2024 she contacted the Council to ask it to reimburse her for utility bills she had been paying since 2021. The Council contacted AP to ask about the issue. AP replied saying Miss B received monthly top-ups via a card since she moved in, but she was unhappy that the top-ups were not unlimited. Miss B had a meeting with the AP.
14. The Council also contacted its temporary accommodation team to ask why she was having to pay extra when the agreement said she was not liable for utility bills. The team advised in mid-July 2024 that the Council was not responsible for paying the utility bills and she should contact the AP.
15. Miss B continued to complain that she had signed an agreement with the Council, and it was responsible for resolving the issue. The Council again said that it would not be reimbursing any extra and Miss B should keep her usage within the agreed amounts or pay the extra herself.
16. The Council has a two stage complaint process: at stage one the Council says it will respond within 10 working days and at stage two, within 20 working days.
17. On 4 October 2024 the Council replied to Miss B’s complaint at stage one of its formal procedure. It said AP had been providing £30 a month towards her utility bills and she needed to pay for any usage above this amount. It said it needed to investigate the matter further to review the agreements and would get back to her within seven days. It tried to ring Miss B in December 2024, but she did not wish to continue the call. She then complained to us.
18. In January 2025 the Council contacted the temporary accommodation team about the issue. It replied that back in 2021 utilities were included in the rent. If the client exceeded this amount, then they would have to cover this.
19. In response to my enquiries the Council has provided an undated copy of the ‘Welcome Pack’ the AP gives to new residents. This says under the heading ‘Utilities’:

“If your bills are included, leave it to us we do all the work prior to your move in! But remember, this is provided in line with ‘fair usage policy’ of gas, electricity and water for the duration of your stay. If you use more than this, then you will be supplied with the details to make payment to pay for any excess used energy.”

20. The Council has also provided emails from March 2022 and March 2023 showing AP communicating with Miss B about the provision of top-ups on a card.
21. The Council has also explained that when Miss B moved into the property the Council was part of the Pan London Framework which governed the rates for nightly paid accommodation. At that time the utilities were included in the rent at £8 per night. It said that it was commonly understood that a fair usage applied across many services and the AP had informed Miss B about this policy on many occasions.

Housing Benefit

22. The Council notified Miss B of three housing benefit overpayments in November 2023 and November 2024. She had a right of appeal against all of them. In February 2025 it wrote off one of the overpayments. The other two are still being recovered.

Analysis

Utility bills

23. The application of a fair usage policy is a proportionate action by AP, but I consider the details of it should have been made clear to Miss B when she moved in.
24. I can be certain Miss B received the two agreements (from the Council and AP) when she moved into her current accommodation, because she signed and dated them. Neither of these referred to a fair usage policy and both indicated that Miss B would not be liable for utility bills. So, I understand why Miss B thought she would not have to pay anything towards her fuel bills.
25. I agree the welcome pack which AP gives to new residents refers to a fair usage policy, but this document is undated, and I cannot be certain it was given to Miss B.
26. However, the emails provided show that Miss B was aware in 2022 and 2023 of the top up arrangements of £30 a week each for gas and electricity. While I consider there was some uncertainty around the information given to Miss B when she moved in, I have concluded, by March 2022 she was aware of the top-up policy and could have complained about it at that point. There are no good reasons to investigate this matter further now.

Complaint-handling

27. The Council could have resolved the situation soon after June 2024 by providing Miss B with the information it has eventually provided to me in June 2025. Instead, it delayed in responding to Miss B’s complaint until October 2024 (taking four months rather than two weeks) then did not get back to her as promised with a definitive answer, causing her to complain to us. It did not provide a stage two complaint response.
28. This was fault which caused Miss B frustration and raised her expectation that she was owed money.

Housing benefit

29. One of the overpayments has been written off. Of the other two, Miss B knew about one of them in November 2023, and the second in November 2024. I consider it was reasonable for her to have appealed against these overpayments and so I have not investigated this issue.

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Action

30. In recognition of the injustice caused to Miss B, I recommended the Council should, within one month of the date of my final decision,
• apologise to her and pay her £100; and
• ensure that complaints are properly investigated and responded to within its published timescales.
31. The Council has agreed to these actions and should provide us with evidence it has complied with them.

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Decision

32. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman