Summary: Ms B complained that the Council had failed to take adequate care of her belongings when she went into temporary accommodation in November 2022. When she moved into permanent accommodation in July 2024, she discovered her belongings had been lost. We found the Council was at fault for not confirming the storage arrangements in writing and not responding to communication from Ms B. The Council has agreed to apologise and pay Ms B £500.

The complaint

1. Ms B complained that Salford City Council (the Council) failed to take reasonable steps to protect her belongings when she was evicted and had to move into temporary accommodation in 2022. It failed to give her information about where her goods were stored and how they were going to be paid for. When she moved to permanent accommodation in 2024 she discovered her belongings had been lost. This has caused Ms B distress and financial hardship.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered evidence provided by Ms B and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
5. Ms B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Protection of belongings

6. Where the council owes or has owed certain housing duties to an applicant, it must protect the applicant’s personal property if there is a risk it may be lost or damaged. A council may make a reasonable charge for storage and reserve the right to dispose of the property if it loses contact with the applicant. (Housing Act 1996, section 211, Homelessness Code of Guidance chapter 20)

Council’s policy on storage of belongings in force in 2022

7. This policy stated that the Council would send an email or letter to the person whose belongings were being stored once the arrangements had been agreed. It said it would keep a close eye on clients with belongings in storage. The Council had three standard letters to send to the client, including one (if the Council was making the storage arrangements) to tell the client where their goods were, which costs were being covered by the Council and how to contact the storage company.

What happened

8. Ms B approached the Council as homeless in 2022. The Council decided it owed a housing duty towards her and agree to find her temporary accommodation.
9. In October 2022 Ms B filled in income and expenditure details. Her caseworker, Officer C sent the details to her manager who approved removal costs and one month’s storage for Ms B’s belongings. The Council considered she could afford to pay the ongoing monthly amount. Officer C sent Ms B an email explaining this arrangement and asking her if it was ok. Ms B says she asked Officer C how long she would have to pay the storage costs for, and that Officer C replied, just a few months. So, Ms B felt she could afford the cost. She sent an email confirming that as the wait would only be eight weeks she could cover the costs of the storage.
10. Officer C obtained a quote for the storage company and sent this to Ms B, but it was not addressed to Ms B and did not confirm how or when Ms B was expected to make further payments.
11. Mrs B says on the day of the eviction the person who came to take her belongings confirmed it was council storage, and the belongings would be locked away until she was offered a new property. Mrs B has provided an inventory of what was put into storage.
12. Ms B sent an email to Officer C in 2023 asking how long until she was offered a property as the temporary accommodation was not suitable and she had not received an invoice from the storage company since December 2022. There is no record of a reply.
13. In July 2024, she was offered permanent accommodation. She asked the Council to return her belongings. After a delay the Council said it could not find her belongings as the storage company had gone out of business, and it was not able to contact them.
14. Ms B complained to the Council in September 2024. The Council replied in October 2024 saying that the Council had agreed to pay the removal costs and one month’s storage, but Ms B had agreed to pay the costs after this. It had taken reasonable steps to protect her property, and it was up to Ms B to maintain contact with the storage company.
15. Ms B escalated her complaint to stage two of the Council’s complaints procedure. It replied in December 2024. It said Ms B had confirmed by email that she accepted the ongoing storage costs. It said it was not possible for the Council to give an estimate of how long she would wait in temporary accommodation, and it apologised if she was given a different impression. It said she could have contacted the Council after eight weeks had elapsed to discuss whether she could maintain the payments for the storage. But it apologised for Officer C not sending Ms B any confirmation of the storage payment arrangements. It also said Ms B could have contacted the storage company herself to follow up the payment issue.
16. Ms B complained to us.
17. In response to my enquiries the Council confirmed that Officer C did not send a letter to Ms B confirming the storage arrangements as detailed in the storage policy at the time. It also sent a copy of an updated storage policy which contained more details on the Council’s legal duty and how the procedure should work.

Analysis

18. I agree the Council should have confirmed the storage arrangements with Ms B prior to the storage starting in November 2022. The failure to do so was fault which meant Ms B was not clear how or when she should make payments. This created uncertainty for Ms B.
19. The uncertainty was exacerbated by the inaccurate information from Officer C on the likely length of the wait for permanent accommodation and the failure to respond to her later email in March 2023 again querying the time and the lack of invoices from the storage company.
20. However, I consider Ms B contributed to the situation to some degree by her failure to follow up the communication with the Council or contact the storage company when no invoices arrived. For this reason, I do not consider it is proportionate for the Council to reimburse Ms B for the cost of the items in storage. But I do consider a symbolic payment for uncertainty is appropriate.

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Action

21. In recognition of the injustice caused to Ms B I recommended the Council should, within one month of the date of my final decision:
• apologise to Ms B and pay her £500.
22. The Council has agreed to my recommendation and should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

23. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman