The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to recover overpaid housing benefit. This is because it would not have been unreasonable to expect the complainant to have used her right of appeal to the tribunal service.
The complaint
The complainant, Mrs B, complained about the Council’s decision to recover overpaid housing benefit dating back to 2015.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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.
Mrs B has had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered her comments before making a final decision.
My assessment
In her complaint to the Council Mrs B said she tried to contact the Council to understand the nature of its demand for repayment and to try and facilitate a resolution. But she said, despite her continuous efforts, this was unfruitful. She said this was because the Council failed to reply in a timely manner and to provide the further information and clarification she had asked for. Mrs B said she was a landlord whose tenants had been receiving benefits but they had moved on. She said the Council had taken too long to demand repayment.
Mrs B told us the Council has made many errors.
If a council pays too much housing benefit to someone it will usually ask them to repay it. The law says an overpayment is recoverable unless it was caused by an official error and it was not reasonable to expect the person to realise they were receiving too much benefit. If someone disagrees with a decision that they must repay an overpayment, they can appeal to the tribunal service. The law says people should appeal within one month of the date of the decision they think is wrong. The tribunal may accept a late appeal up to 13 months from the date of the decision.
We have no powers to consider housing benefit appeals. The tribunal is an independent expert body whose decisions are binding on the Council. Although Mrs B has told us she was waiting for replies from the Council, I consider it would not have been unreasonable to expect her to have protected her position by making an appeal in this case.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because it would not have been unreasonable to expect her to have used her right of appeal to the tribunal service.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman