The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint about the delay in receiving an overpayment for her late mother’s, Mrs C’s, care charges. This is because the Council has refunded the monies owed to the estate and there is no unremedied injustice warranting an Ombudsman investigation.
The complaint
Mrs B complained the Council sent an invoice for care after her late mother, Mrs C, had passed away, and she did not receive the refund of the overpayment for five months. Mrs B says she wants the Council to address all the points in her initial complaint to ensure mistakes do not happen again.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council responded to Mrs B’s complaint in October. It said it was not notified that Mrs C had passed away until 22 September which is why she had received a further invoice for her care charges. It apologised and advised Mrs C’s account had been put on hold. It said Mrs B would be informed when the account had been recalculated.
The Council confirmed it had repaid Mrs C’s estate the overpayment of care charges £599.34 on 5 January 2022.
While Mrs B has not had all the answers she wants it is not the role of the Ombudsman to provide these. Although there was a delay in the estate receiving the refund, we are satisfied the Council has now repaid the overpayment, apologised to Mrs B for the distress caused from receiving a further invoice and explained the reasons for this.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because there is no unremedied injustice warranting an Ombudsman investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman