Warrington Council (25 009 287)
Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 23 Apr 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about housing benefit. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons for this.
The complaint
- Mr X, an advice agency representative, complains for Ms B that the Council did not advise her to claim Universal Credit (housing element) and delayed confirming she was not entitled to housing benefit. As a result, she has six months rent arrears. He also complains about the Council’s complaint handling.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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).
- It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are not investigating the substantive issue.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complained to the Council regarding the matters in paragraph 1.
- The Council replied to Ms B that it had no record of her contacting it in October 2023 and advising her to claim housing benefit. It said it received a council tax support claim in March 2024 and assessed this within 2 days. It also said shortly afterwards it advised Ms B to claim Universal Credit when she asked about her rent arrears.
- We will not investigate this complaint because it is late, and there are no good reasons for this. Ms B was aware the Council had not paid housing benefit by late 2023. However, Mr X did not complain to the Ombudsman until July 2025.
- We will not investigate the Council’s complaint handling because it is not proportionate to do so, as we are not investigating the substantive issue.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms B’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons for this.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman