A woman from Hackney was told she owed the council £3,300 in housing benefit overpayment, then over £6,000, and finally nothing, after a two-year ordeal. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) found Hackney Council at fault for its handling of the case.
The council was found at fault for recovering £1,600 from the resident, referred to as Ms B, while she appealed the decision. In December 2025, the council agreed to make a symbolic payment of £200 for causing distress and financial hardship.
Ms B was informed of the alleged overpayment in January 2023. Despite her appeal, the council continued to collect money, recovering over £1,600 in total. She repeatedly sought an explanation, but officers eventually nearly doubled the outstanding figure before dropping the debt altogether.
The LGSCO found the council at fault for forcing Ms B to chase it for information and for taking too long to review her case. The watchdog stated that debt collection should have been suspended upon her appeal.
Ms B had disputed the arrears, arguing the council miscalculated her income and that the money was irrecoverable. She sent several follow-ups, but officers repeated previous calculations and later increased the total arrears to £6,000.
After Ms B complained to her local councillor, the council ruled in her favor in November 2024. In January 2025, it wrote off the debt and refunded the £1,600 recovered. However, she complained to the Ombudsman that the council never apologized directly or explained the delay.
The watchdog found the council delayed excessively, exacerbating the injustice. It ordered the council to pay £200 as a symbolic payment.
A Hackney Council spokesperson said: "We are sorry for the distress this has caused the resident and acknowledge that we have not dealt with this case properly, and fell short of the standards we and our residents expect. We have refunded the money that was recovered from the resident and have compensated £200 to recognise the distress caused by the delay. We will make sure that we learn from this case and ensure that it is used to help improve the service we provide to residents."
