London Borough of Hounslow (24 022 587)
Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 11 May 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Housing Benefit and Council Tax overpayments. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to investigate it now.
The complaint
- Mrs X complained the Council failed to act promptly to resolve her Housing Benefit and Council Tax overpayments over a long period of time. She also said it delayed responding to her complaints. She said it severely affected her mental health. She wants the Council to resolve the overpayment issues and respond to her communications.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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
- We will not investigate this complaint. Ms X complained to the Council about concerns relating to benefit and tax calculations between 2017 and August 2024. We expect a person to complain to us within 12 months of being aware of a matter and Miss X did not complain to us until March 2025. Therefore, the complaint is late, and there are not good reasons to exercise discretion to consider it now.
- The more time passes between the events and a complaint, the more unlikely it is we can investigate them effectively, gather reliable evidence and reach a sound decision. In older cases we also may not be able to achieve a meaningful remedy because too many circumstances have changed. We are often unable to be able to show why events occurred or understand who was responsible.
- Ms X complained the Council delayed responding to her complaints. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to investigate it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman