The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision on Ms X’s housing benefit claim as she had a right of appeal to the tribunal.
The complaint
Ms X complains the Council failed to correctly assess her housing benefits claim. She says this has led to her being in rent arrears and court action being taken for possession.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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) 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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X is unhappy with the way the Council assessed her housing benefit application in 2019. She does not feel her circumstances were considered properly. Ms X had a right of appeal to the tribunal if she believed the Council had made an incorrect assessment. It is reasonable to have expected her to have appealed because the tribunal is free to use and the appropriate body to deal with benefit disputes.
Further, even if Ms X did not have an appeal right the decision on her housing benefit was made in December 2019. This is more than 12 months ago so the provision in paragraph four applies. I see no reason why the matter could not have been brought to this office within 12 months. The complaint is therefore late without good reason to accept it now.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because she had a right of appeal to the tribunal. The complaint is also late.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman