Derby City Council (25 024 123)
Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 25 Feb 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about housing benefit because there is a right of appeal to a tribunal and there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
- Ms X complains that the Council refused to pay housing benefit for a period after her late mother moved house.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
- 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)
- We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Ms X says that her mother moved house in January 2025 but died shortly after. As executor, Ms X asked the Council to pay housing benefit for the period in the new property. The Council says it was never notified of the move and so no housing benefit could be paid.
- Any dispute about entitlement to housing benefit could be appealed to a tribunal. The tribunal is an independent body which can determine any dispute about such decisions. I see no reason why an appeal could not be made in this case and so the complaint is out of jurisdiction.
- If no appeal is possible I am not satisfied that there was fault by the Council as there is no evidence that the Council had been told of the change of circumstances.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is a right of appeal to a tribunal and insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman