London Borough of Haringey

The Ombudsman's final decision

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the recovery of housing benefit overpayments. This is because the complaint is made late.

The complaint

X complains about the Council’s recovery of housing benefit overpayments, which he says he has paid.

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 the complainant and the Council.

I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

My assessment

I will not investigate X’s complaint because it is made late. X has been aware of the overpayments for several years and the Council dealt with a complaint X made about the issue in 2024. I see no good reason why X could not have complained to us sooner.

Final decision

We will not investigate X’s complaint because it is made late.

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman