Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about a housing benefit overpayment. This is because Mrs X has appealed to the Tribunal.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council overpaid her housing benefit due to its own errors, causing her distress and financial hardship. She says the Council should not recover the overpayment and should pay her a financial remedy.
2. Mrs X also complains the Council said it would stop deductions from her pay to recover the overpayment, but it failed to do so.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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 investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating,

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)).

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

9. The Council paid Mrs X housing benefit in 2024. It then decided it had overpaid her £494. This was because it had left out an adult in the household in error. It decided it should recover the overpayment from Mrs X.
10. Mrs X has appealed and the Council passed the appeal to the Tribunal. This complaint is out of our jurisdiction, as it is for the Tribunal to decide and we cannot investigate it.
11. Mrs X also complained about deductions from her pay by an attachment of earnings after the Council had agreed to hold recovery due to the appeal. The Council replied it had asked Mrs X’s employer to stop deductions and so it could not say why the employer had made them. It repaid the money it had received to Mrs X.
12. There is insufficient evidence of fault here and the Council has resolved the issue by arranging repayment.

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Final decision

13. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint because she has appealed to the Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman