Miss C complained that Powys County Council had wrongly calculated that she had been overpaid Housing Benefit and had not provided her with clear information about how the overpayment had been calculated. Miss C also complained about action the Council had taken to recover the debt and delays in awarding benefits that she was entitled to receive.
The Ombudsman decided that there was no fault in the Council’s calculation of the overpayment, but the communication lacked clarity and caused Miss C uncertainty about the debt. There were delays in pausing enforcement action and in awarding a Discretionary Housing Payment. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to apply a disregard of £250 in recognition of the time and trouble needed to clarify the nature of the debt.