Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about housing benefit overpayments. This is because the complaint is late and there is no good reason for this.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council has wrongly recovered housing benefit overpayments for six years for periods before 2017 that she did not owe. She says that she sent information regarding her income but heard nothing until 2019 when the Council said the overpayment was over £12,000. She says she was unable to include the overpayment in a debt relief order because of the delay. This caused her stress and financial hardship.

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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).

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. We will not investigate this complaint because it is late and there is no good reason for this. Mrs X was aware of the overpayment from 2019 but did not complain to the Ombudsman until February 2026. It was reasonable to expect her to complain earlier.

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Final decision

5. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman