Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to recover a housing benefit overpayment from Mr X’s account. It is reasonable for him to appeal to an independent tribunal to challenge the Council’s decision on his benefit.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s decision to recover an overpayment of housing benefit on his account back to 2022. This amounts to over £4,700 and he says this is unfair because he is unable to access an bank account to provide details required by the Council.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X says the Council told him in 2024 that it was ending his housing benefit and council tax support claims because it had not received information from him about a bank account. He told the Council that he was unable to access the account to provide details. Because of this the claim was withdrawn with effect from June 2022 because it could not establish his correct entitlement to benefits from that date.
7. Mr X believes this is unfair because he has had difficulty accessing the account because his access code has been suspended.
8. The Council gave Mr X four weeks to provide the information before ending the claim and told him he needed to make contact with his bank to resolve the matter.
9. We cannot determine council decisions on housing benefit overpayments and entitlement. The Social Entitlement Chamber (also known as the Social Security Appeal Tribunal) is a tribunal that considers housing benefit appeals. If Mr X wishes to challenge the Council’s decision it is reasonable for him to ask it to forward his appeal to the tribunal.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to recover a housing benefit overpayment from Mr X’s account. It is reasonable for him to appeal to an independent tribunal to challenge the Council’s decision on his benefit.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman