Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about a housing benefit overpayment because the complainant appealed to the tribunal and could have appealed about any other overpayments that may have arisen.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Ms X, complains about a housing benefit overpayment which she says is statute barred. She also complains about other overpayments. She says the events have caused depression, defamation and debt.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
5. The Social Entitlement Chamber (also known as the Social Security Appeal Tribunal) is a tribunal that considers housing benefit appeals. (The Social Entitlement Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and the tribunal decision. I also considered our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. In 2018 the Council asked Ms X to repay a housing benefit overpayment of nearly £20,000. The overpayment period was from 2009 to 2013.
8. Ms X appealed to the tribunal. In 2021 the tribunal dismissed the appeal and said she must repay the money. Ms X has repaid some of the money but still owes about £16,000. Ms X says the overpayment is statute barred.
9. Ms X complains about other overpayments and has referred to an overpayment in 2008. The Council says it did not raise an overpayment in 2008 and it is only recovering the overpayment from 2009 to 2013.
10. I cannot investigate the overpayment because Ms X appealed to the tribunal. We cannot investigate any issue that has been the subject of an appeal to the tribunal. The debt is not statute barred because the six year window started from the date of the tribunal decision in 2021 and six years have not passed; there are also other factors to consider when determining if a debt is statute barred.
11. The Council says it did not raise an overpayment in 2008. If Ms X received any other overpayment decisions that she disagreed with, she could have used her appeal rights. It is reasonable to expect her to appeal because the tribunal is the appropriate body to consider disputes about benefit decisions.

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Final decision

12. We cannot investigate this complaint because Ms X appealed to the tribunal and because she could have used her appeal rights for any other benefit decisions she disagreed with.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman