Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to recover a housing benefit overpayment. This is because it would have been reasonable for Mr X to have appealed to the Tribunal.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to recover a housing benefit overpayment which he says he never initially received. He says this has caused him to live in fear of debt collectors. Mr X wants the Council to accept it broke its own rules and regulations making the overpayment. He also wants the Council to retract the overpayment.

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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. 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)

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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. Most housing benefit decisions come with the right to appeal to the independent benefits tribunal, after the person has asked the Council to reconsider its decision.
7. The Council gave Mr X notification of its overpayment in 2018, and he promptly engaged with the Council on this matter and asked it to reconsider. The Council declined to. If Mr X disagreed, he could have appealed to the Tribunal. I have seen nothing to suggest it would not have been reasonable for him to do so, and I will not therefore exercise my discretion to investigate.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it would have been reasonable to expect him to have used his tribunal rights.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman