Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about water charges for the complainant’s temporary accommodation. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council will not accept that water charges are included in his rent.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the licence agreement. I considered our Assessment Code and comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

4. Mr X lives in temporary accommodation. The licence agreement lists his rent and other charges payable. For example, it says he must pay must rent of £196, a service fee of £10.26 and a grounds charge of £1.83. It says he must pay £0.00 for water. I have seen a screenshot which lists all the charges he must pay – water is not listed as a charge he must pay as part of his rent. I have seen an email Mr X sent to the Council which says he received a water bill from Thames Water.
5. There is a property information sheet which says Mr X is responsible for paying the water rates. It also says the current water provider is ‘estate water’. I have seen council emails which state this is a mistake and the provider is Thames Water.
6. Mr X complained to the Council and said water is included in his rent. He said this was what he was told when he signed-up. In response the Council said the water is not included and he needs to contact Thames Water to arrange payment. The Council provided a breakdown of what is included in the rent. It said the Council explained during sign-up that he would be responsible for the water.
7. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The licence agreement lists the water charge as £0.00. If water was included an amount would be listed to show Mr X what he needed to pay. It is unfortunate the property information sheet refers to water being provided by the estate but this error does not mean the water is included and the fact Thames Water billed Mr X shows the Council is not listed as being liable for the charge.
8. Mr X says he was told at sign-up that water was included; the Council denies this. If we started an investigation we could not resolve this dispute because we were not part of the conversation. But, even if Mr X was mis-informed (and I am not saying he was) this would not mean water is included and, if water was included, Mr X would have to pay more rent than now because water would be added to the rent.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman