The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to recover an overpayment of caring allowance. It is unlikely we would find fault.
The complaint
Mrs X complains about the Council’s decision it had overpaid her caring allowance and to recover it from her.
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 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 continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X cared for an extended family member, D. The Council paid her an allowance for doing so. In June 2024, D stopped living with Mrs X and went back to live with their mother. The Council accepts it continued to pay the allowance and should not have done so. In July 2024 it wrote to Mrs X and said it had over paid the allowance by £1488.92 and she needed to repay it. It passed her case to its debt recovery team.
Mrs X complained. She said the Council had not formally notified her that D was no longer living with her until it sent the overpayment letter in July. She was shocked it had been passed to debt recovery agents.
The Council in reply said it would ask the debt recover agents to allow her more time to reply.
The Council is entitled to recover these type of allowance payments when they have been overpaid. It is unlikely we would find fault in it doing so.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault in the Council deciding to recover overpaid caring allowance.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman