The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a disputed overpayment of housing benefit. The complaint is out of time and there was a right of appeal to a tribunal.
The complaint
Mr X complains about the Council’s recovery of an overpayment of housing benefit.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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) The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended) 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)
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 he was contacted by the Council in 2017 about an overpayment of housing benefit (from 2013) which he disputed.
Any dispute about the recovery of an overpayment of housing benefit can be appealed to a tribunal. The tribunal is an expert body and their decisions are binding on the Council. I see no reason why an appeal could not be made in this case.
Further, Mr X was aware of the matter, at least from 2017. I see no reason why a complaint about this could not have been made to this office within 12 months of this date. I consider, therefore, the complaint to be out of time and so out of our jurisdiction.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is out of time and there was a right of appeal to a tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman