Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council providing the wrong advice about claiming Universal Credit. This is because the complaint is late and further investigation would be unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council gave him incorrect advice in 2023 about claiming Universal Credit (UC). He says this caused his Housing Benefit (HB) to end, leading to rent arrears, loss of benefit income, deductions, and significant distress. He wants the Council to reimburse his financial losses, write off his arrears, pay compensation, and apologise.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)
4. 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, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organization.

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

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. In May 2023, Mr X contacted his Rent Officer after receiving a letter saying his direct debit had been cancelled. He said the Rent Officer wrongly told him to apply for UC which caused his HB to stop. As a result, Mr X built up rent arrears. The Council then pursued him for the arrears. He also says this advice meant he lost income protection from changing benefits and was entitled to less benefits, so he is out of pocket.
8. Mr X complained to the Council about the consequences of what he believed was incorrect advice, asking the Council to write off his arrears and pay him compensation.
9. The Council considered Mr X’s complaint and explained that his arrears resulted from the transition from Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) to UC and delays in Mr X providing information to process his UC claim. Although the Council did not uphold his complaint, it offered to reduce his rent balance and award a small payment for the injustice caused by its delay in complaint handling.
10. Mr X’s complaint relates to events that occurred in 2023. Mr X first complained to us in October 2025, more than two years later. The complaint is therefore late.
11. Mr X explains that part of the delay was due to mental health difficulties, which I have considered. However, even if I exercised discretion and accepted the complaint late, further investigation is unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council that caused the issues Mr X experienced with his UC claim
12. We will not investigate this complaint because it is late and further investigation is unlikely to find evidence of fault.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because the complaint is late and if we were to investigate, we would be unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman