London Borough of Barnet (25 030 735)
Category : Benefits and tax > Housing benefit and council tax benefit
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 07 Jun 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a housing benefit overpayment because there is a right of appeal to a tribunal and there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
- Mr X complains that the Council unreasonably recovered an overpayment of housing benefit.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X says that the Council is recovering an overpayment of housing benefit. He says that the Council failed to properly notify him of the overpayment decision. The Council says that the letter was sent to his last address (as he did not tell the Council where he had moved to).
- The Council’s decision to send the overpayment letter to Mr X’s last known address (in the absence of an update for Mr X) was not fault and so the Ombudsman could not question this. The Ombudsman cannot speculate what a tribunal would conclude in the absence of a formal appeal.
- The Council pursued an attachment of earnings order in 2025 after asking Mr X to make an arrangement to pay. As no response was received, the Council pursued the order. The order was based upon statutory recovery amounts and so the Council’s decision and recovery were not fault.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is a right of appeal to a tribunal and there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman