The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council seeking to recover an overpayment to Miss X. There is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council has sought to recover the overpayment to warrant investigation.
The complaint
Miss X says she is unhappy about the Council has dealt with an overpayment problem. She says the overpayment was the Council’s fault and it is seeking to claim the money back two years later.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council made an overpayment to Miss X, who runs a childcare business, during a period covered by Covid-19 lockdown in late 2020. It contacted her in March 2022 regarding the overpayment, a sum of more than £600. The Council offered to recover the overpayment over a period of time. It is not fault for the Council to seek to recover an overpayment, and its willingness to do this in instalments is reasonable.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman