Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to recover a housing benefit overpayment. This is because it was reasonable for Mr X to use his right of appeal. The complaint is also late and there are no good reasons for this.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to recover a housing benefit overpayment. He said he has been caused significant distress by the Council’s actions and said he does not believe the overpayment was made directly to him. Mr X wants the Council to return the money he has paid and provide him with an explanation.

Back to top

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 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 another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
4. 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)
5. 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). I refer to it as the Tribunal in this decision statement.
6. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

9. Mr X complained to the Council in late 2025 after it told him it would recover a housing benefit overpayment from his salary. He said the overpayment arose more than 10 years earlier.
10. In its complaint response, the Council said it told Mr X about the overpayment in 2015 or 2016 and explained his appeal rights at the time. It also said it provided Mr X with information in August 2023 about how the debt had accrued.
11. If Mr X disagreed with the Council’s decision about the overpayment, he could have asked the Council to review it and then appealed to the Tribunal if he remained dissatisfied. The Tribunal was the appropriate body to decide whether the overpayment was recoverable and whether Mr X was liable to repay it. We normally expect people to use their appeal rights, and I have seen no good reason Mr X could not have done so. In any event, this is also a late complaint, and I have seen no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate it now.

Back to top

Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it was reasonable for Mr X to use his right of appeal. The complaint is also late and there are no good reasons for this.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman