The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint that the Council did not refund her rent that she says she overpaid in 2023. This is because the complaint is late with no good reason to investigate it now.
The complaint
Ms X complains the Council did not refund her rent that she says she overpaid in 2023.
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 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 Ms X.
I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X says she lived in temporary accommodation arranged by the Council from 20 December 2020 until 28 March 2023. She says she made her last rent payment on 27 March 2023, which covered one week. She says she notified the Council about her departure on 28 March 2023 and left the property the following day. She says the Council should therefore have refunded the five days of rent that she did not use.
Ms X complained to us more than 12 months after these events, so her complaint is late. I consider that she would have known, or should reasonably have known, that she overpaid her rent when she left the property in March 2023, as this was only two days after she paid rent. I have not seen a good reason for the delay in complaining to us and therefore I will not investigate her complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is late with no good reason to investigate now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman