The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about a housing benefit overpayment because the complainant appealed to the tribunal.
The complaint
The complainant, Ms X, says she should not have to repay a housing benefit overpayment because it was caused by Council error.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and confirmation Ms X has appealed to the tribunal. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council asked Ms X to repay a housing benefit overpayment which arose from a Council error. Ms X says she should not have to repay anything because she did not do anything wrong. Ms X has appealed to the tribunal and is waiting for an appeal date.
The law says an overpayment can be recoverable even when caused by an official error. Recoverability depends on whether it was reasonable to expect the claimant to be aware they were receiving too much benefit.
Ms X has appealed to the tribunal. The tribunal will decide if the overpayment is recoverable from Ms X.
The law says we cannot investigate any matter which is the subject of an appeal to the tribunal. This means I cannot start an investigation because Ms X has appealed to the tribunal. This restriction will apply even if Ms X loses the appeal. There is no part of the complaint I can investigate.
Final decision
We cannot investigate this complaint because Ms X appealed to the tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman