The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Ms B’s complaint about money she says the Council owes her late mother’s, Mrs D’s, estate. This is because the Council has now considered the complaint and reimbursed Mrs D’s estate with monies owed. The injustice caused by the fault has now been remedied.
The complaint
Ms B says the Council did not fully refund the overpayments taken from her late mother’s Mrs D’s Direct Payment account. Mrs D passed away in November 2020. Ms B says the Council froze the account then took a large amount of money from the account. Ms B says the Council reimbursed some of the money but wants it to undertake a full reconciliation of Mrs D’s Direct Payment account and refund monies it should not have deducted.
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 apologised for the oversight in undertaking a reconciliation of Mrs D’s Direct Payment account as it agreed to do in 2021. It explained the delay was because the person undertaking the review left the employment of the Council.
The Council confirmed it has now completed a reconciliation of Mrs D’s account. It found in addition to the £157.02 reimbursed to the account in November and December 2020, a further £412.95 is owed. The Council says it will contact Ms B to arrange refund of the monies owed to the estate of Mrs D.
The Council has apologised for the delay and undertaken a reconciliation of Mrs D’s Direct Payment account. It has identified monies to be reimbursed to her estate and will arrange to do this. We are satisfied the injustice has now been remedied and will not investigate further.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms B’s complaint because we are satisfied the Council has remedied the injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman