Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the incorrect assessment of housing benefit made by the Council. This is because the complaint has been made late, there is a right of an appeal, and an investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the incorrect assessment of housing benefit made by the Council. She says that this led to her overpaying her rent for almost a year.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)).
3. 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)
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 Miss X and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Miss X says that the Council incorrectly calculated her housing benefit, and the Council failed to fix this for a year.
9. The Council says that in July 2023 it recalculated Miss X’s housing benefit due to updated information about her income.
10. I would not be able to investigate this, as the complaint is late. This is because the matter complained about, happened more than 12 months ago.
11. The time for us receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wish to complain about, not when they complained to the Council, or it issued its final response.
12. Also, any dispute about the amount of benefit awarded or recalculated, can be appealed to the Social Entitlement Chamber. The tribunal is an independent body which can determine overpayment disputes.
13. I note that Miss X has also raised a dispute into a recalculation made by the Council in July 2024. This dispute can be appealed to the Tribunal if necessary.
14. With respect to the incorrect reassessment from 2023, the Council in its response has admitted this error. It has reassessed the benefit payment and committed to completing a quality review into the error made.
15. This is a suitable response to the complaint. On this basis, further investigation is not warranted, as it would not lead to any further outcomes.

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Final decision

16. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the complaint has been made late, there is a right of an appeal, and an investigation would not lead to a different outcome

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman