Summary: We ended our investigation as Mr X’s complaint was late and he had appeal rights against the Council’s housing benefit overpayment decision and if he disputed his liability to pay council tax.

The complaint

1. Mr X said the Council had refused to cancel his housing benefit debt and was deducting money from his wages every month, which left him unable to pay his rent. Mr X said he was in a difficult situation and needed to pay his rent as he had a family with children.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974, as amended, sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. The Social Entitlement Chamber (also known as the Social Security Appeal Tribunal) is a tribunal that considers housing benefit appeals.
5. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability.
6. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
7. 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)
8. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We can decide whether to start or continue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction if, for example:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

9. I:

• considered Mr X’s written complaint and supporting papers;
• tried to talk to Mr X about the complaint;
• asked for and considered information from the Council about the complaint; and
• shared a draft of this statement with Mr X and the Council and considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Background

Housing benefit – overpayments

10. Some people on low incomes are entitled to housing benefit from councils to help pay their rent. If councils pay too much housing benefit to someone they will usually ask them to repay it. The law says an overpayment is recoverable unless caused by an official error where it was not reasonable to expect the person would realise they were receiving too much benefit.

11. People may challenge an overpayment decision by asking the council to review it and or appealing to the relevant tribunal (see paragraph 4). Generally, people should ask for a review or appeal within one month of the overpayment decision. However, people have up to 13 months from the decision date to make a late request.

Council tax

12. Council tax is a combination of tax on the value of a property and a tax on individuals that is payable by the occupier or owner. The council tax year is from April until the following March. Councils usually issue council tax bills in March and the amount billed for each year is due on 1st April but usually collected through monthly instalments. If people dispute their liability to pay their council tax bill they may appeal to the Valuation Tribunal (see paragraph 5).
13. The law gives councils powers to recover unpaid council tax by applying to the Magistrates Court for a liability order against those it believes are liable (see also paragraph 6). Once a council has a liability order it can take recovery action. A liability order gives councils legal powers to take enforcement action to collect the money owed. For example, councils may get an attachment of earnings order (‘an AOE order’) or use enforcement agents or ‘bailiffs. An AOE order means an employer removes money from the employee’s earnings and passes that money to the council.

What happened

14. In October 2018, the Council reviewed Mr X’s housing benefit and sent him an overpayment decision letter dating back to 2008. A month passed and the Council did not receive a review request or notice of an appeal against the overpayment decision.
15. In December 2018, the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) contacted the Council saying Mr X could not repay the housing benefit. The CAB provided some financial information about Mr X’s income and outgoings and referred to other debts, including non payment of council tax. The Council placed a hold on recovery action for the housing benefit overpayment while it considered the CAB’s information. After Mr X had responded to the Council asking for some information, in April 2019, it then asked for further information.
16. In August 2019, Mr X met with the CAB, which then contacted the Council to challenge its overpayment decision. The Council replied asking the CAB to provide reasons for now asking for a late review given it knew of the overpayment decision 10 months earlier.
17. In December 2020, Mr X telephoned the Council and it agreed to email him information to complete an ‘income and expenditure form’.
18. Meanwhile, the Council secured a liability order against Mr X for unpaid council tax. It then started to recover the council tax debt through an AOE order. By February 2022, the Council had recovered about £2,800.
19. In March 2022, the Council sent Mr X a council tax bill for the year April 2022 to March 2023. In June 2022, the Council wrote to Mr X about unpaid council tax. In July 2022, Mr X’s Member of Parliament (MP) wrote to the Council about Mr X’s housing benefit and council tax debts and his immigration status. The MP asked the Council if it could waive recovery of Mr X’s debts. The Council replied saying it already had an AOE order for recovery of unpaid council tax. The Council referred to its December 2020 email and said it remained without an income and expenditure form. The Council said the form was essential for it to consider whether deductions through the AOE order were reasonable. On housing benefit, the Council provided information about its 2018 overpayment decision. In October 2022, Mr X came to the Ombudsman.

Consideration

Housing benefit

20. I recognised Mr X’s distress, given his financial position, and concern he has for keeping his family home. However, the evidence showed Mr X had been aware of the Council’s housing benefit overpayment decision since October 2018. A complaint in 2022 about that decision was a late complaint (see paragraph 7). I saw no good reason now to continue an investigation into this late complaint.
21. Mr X also had review and appeal rights against the 2018 overpayment decision (see paragraphs 3 and 4). I saw no evidence Mr X used his review and appeal rights despite accessing support from the CAB in 2018 and 2019. However, I found it reasonable to expect Mr X to have appealed because the tribunal is the appropriate body to deal with benefit disputes and is free to use. Unlike the Ombudsman, the tribunal could decide if the Council acted correctly in reaching its overpayment decision and whether Mr X should repay housing benefit. I saw no good reason to exercise my discretion now to investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s housing benefit overpayment decision.

Council tax

22. Mr X also complained about the AOE order that meant, to recover unpaid council tax, the Council was taking money from his salary. The Council needed a liability order before it could take recovery action, including getting an AOE order. And to secure a liability order, the Council had to start action in the courts. However, we cannot investigate complaints about the start of court action (see paragraph 6).
23. The evidence suggested the Council decided to recover unpaid council tax using an AOE order in early 2021. And money was first deducted from Mr X’s salary in May 2021. A complaint now about the Council’s 2021 decision to use an AOE order to recover the unpaid council tax was a late complaint (see paragraph 7). The Council’s recent letter to Mr X’s MP (see paragraph 19) said it would review whether the deductions from Mr X’s salary remained reasonable. However, the Council first wanted details of Mr X’s current financial circumstances. The Council’s offer to review the reasonableness of the salary deductions on receiving up-to-date financial information was a suitable and appropriate response to Mr X’s concerns about the AOE order. I therefore saw no good reason to exercise discretion and now investigate Mr X’s complaint about the about the AOE order (see paragraphs 7 and 8).
24. Mr X had a right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal if he disputed his liability to pay the council tax billed to him by the Council (see paragraphs 3 and 5). The tribunal is the appropriate, and expert, body to determine council tax liability disputes and its decisions are binding on the Council. I saw no good reason why Mr X could not have used his appeal rights if he disputed his liability to pay council tax. And, without a successful appeal, the Council was entitled to collect the council tax it had billed to Mr X. I would not therefore continue to investigate this part of Mr X’s complaint (see paragraphs 3, 5, 7 and 8).

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Final decision

25. I ended my investigation finding that Mr X had legal appeal rights and also finding no good reason now to exercise my discretion and investigate his late complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman