North Northamptonshire Council (24 003 999)
Category : Adult care services > Charging
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 02 Sep 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about her late mother’s care charges because the complaint is late.
The complaint
- Ms X complained the Council had overcharged her mother for her care package.
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 and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
What happened
- Ms X complained the Council over-charged her mother for her care at home in 2021. After contact from the local MP, the Council investigated and issued a credit for the amount overcharged in January 2022. However, Ms X says her mother’s account was still not correct and the Council wrong sent chaser letters until her mother died in January 2023. Ms X said she did complain to the Council in March 2023 but did not get a response.
- After communicating with its debt recovery team, she made a further complaint in early 2024. In its complaint response, the Council said it had properly applied a credit to the account in early 2022 and that it had made it clear to Ms X that the outstanding amount would need to be settled. It suggested she agree a repayment plan. Ms X says the Council has ignored her evidence, which she says shows the account is still wrong.
My assessment
- We usually expect people to complain to us within 12 months of having notice of the problem complained about. Ms X was aware of the issues with her mother’s care charges by January 2023 and, for some of the issues, from late 2021. Although she says she complained to the Council in March 2023, she did not pursue it when she did not get a response. Although she was in touch with the Council’s debt recovery team, she did not complain to us until June 2024. There is no evidence to suggest Ms X could not have complained to us sooner.
- Therefore, we will not consider the complaint further because it is late.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is late.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman