Department for Work and Pensions

2. Mr A complains that DWP ended his Pension Credit claim in 2018 because he had a lodger living with him. He says he experienced financial hardship and significant mental and physical health problems.

3. Mr A wants DWP to repay the Pension Credit he should have received.

4. Pension Credit gives someone extra money to help with their living costs if they are over State Pension age and on a low income. There are rules about who can claim and what counts as income towards calculating Pension Credit.

5. Mr A had been getting Pension Credit for some time. In December 2017, he took in what he describes as a lodger. Mr A did not tell DWP about this at the time.

6. In October 2018, Mr A told DWP about the lodger. DWP says Mr A described him as a guest who was paying £30 a week to cover extra costs. DWP decided the person was a guest and a non-dependent living with Mr A. Because this person was not on a qualifying benefit and was paying Mr A, he no longer qualified for Pension Credit. DWP ended the claim on 25 December 2018 and registered an overpayment of £1,435.58 and a penalty against Mr A for not telling DWP sooner.

7. Mr A phoned DWP on 9 February 2019 to talk about the decision, but he did not raise a mandatory reconsideration or appeal to tribunal (to challenge the benefit decision).

8. Sadly, Mr A’s lodger died. Mr A began reclaiming Pension Credit in July 2022.

10. The Health Service Commissioners Act 1993 (the law) says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has (or had) the option to take legal action, unless we consider this is (or was) unreasonable in the circumstances. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it would be a reasonable option to look into.

11. In response to Mr A’s complaint, DWP explained he was not entitled to Pension Credit as he described that a guest, or a non-dependent, was living with him rather than a lodger.

12. ICE decided it was unable to consider the complaint as it was about a decision to end Pension Credit which was appealable to tribunal.

13. When DWP made its decision to end Mr A’s Pension Credit claim, it gave him his mandatory reconsideration and appeal rights. While he did contact DWP after the decision was made, he did not make any formal request for a reconsideration or appeal. Mr A should have done this as that was the right route for him to pursue his concerns. We have not seen anything to suggest that he was not able to do this.

14. The complaint process is not the right route to consider whether it was correct for DWP to end Mr A’s Pension Credit claim. Especially when this is based on what it legally considered a lodger for Pension Credit purposes.

15. Mr A is out of time to appeal now but this does not take away from the fact that he did have the opportunity to do this. He may be able to submit a late appeal. Once again, we are sorry to hear of the impact this matter had on him and the frustration he has experienced in trying to get it resolved.

1. We have carefully considered Mr A’s complaint about the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). We think he should have taken legal action, so we are not taking any further action. DWP’s decision to end his Pension Credit was appealable and this is the route Mr A should have followed. We appreciate this is not the outcome Mr A wanted and we are sorry to hear about what happened.