Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a housing benefit overpayment. This is because the complaint is late and there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigation regarding the Council’s recent contact.

The complaint

1. Mr X says the Council is unfairly seeking repayment of a housing benefit overpayment for a period 14 years ago. He says he was not aware of overpayment and cannot appeal against it.

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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. 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

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

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My assessment

6. Mr X complained to the Council regarding the matters in paragraph 1.
7. The Council replied it had written to Mr X regarding the housing benefit overpayment in 2016. Mr X had the right of appeal about the overpayment but it did not receive an appeal. The Council said it had recovered part of the overpayment by making deductions from his ongoing housing benefit until 2018 when he stopped being entitled. It noted Mr X said he did not receive the notification letter, but it said it used his address at the time.
8. The Council has traced Mr X to his current address and sent invoices for repayment. The Council said he could pay by instalments and it would consider his income and expenditure.
9. Mr X’s complaint regarding the housing benefit overpayment is late and there are no good reasons for this. It appears he would have been aware of the overpayment in 2016 as the Council made regular deductions from his housing benefit for two years.
10. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council in seeking to recover the overpayment once it traced Mr X in 2025. The Council has a duty to recover housing benefit overpayments. It has explained the reasons for the overpayment and offered to consider his income and outgoings to agree a payment arrangement.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late and there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant investigation into the Council’s actions from 2025.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman