Ms N is a very vulnerable adult, living in Edinburgh. She has learning disabilities, severe emotional problems, and cannot manage many areas of her life. Since 1982, Ms N has been a resident of a community that offers opportunities for people with learning disabilities. Ms N received support from her community to manage her financial affairs. With their help she had been in receipt of benefits, including income support, on which she depended since 1995.

When Ms N moved from one residential site within the community to another, Jobcentre Plus inexplicably stopped her income support.

The community did not find out Ms N’s income support had been stopped because Jobcentre Plus had, incorrectly, recorded that she did not need an appointee (someone who acts as a representative in dealings with Jobcentre Plus).

It took a year and a half for Jobcentre Plus to explain how to get Ms N’s benefit reinstated, which she did, with support. Then, despite two successful tribunal hearings, a complaint to Jobcentre Plus and another to the Independent Case Examiner, Ms N’s income support was not backdated to the date it had been stopped. When her case was brought to the Ombudsman, Ms N had been deprived of £3,500 as a result of Jobcentre Plus’s mistake.

We identified where things had gone wrong and recommended that Jobcentre Plus pay Ms N  the money she was owed.  We also recommended that they should make a plan to avoid making the same mistakes again. Jobcentre Plus later confirmed that they had complied with our recommendations and they told us about their plan. The plan included actions that went beyond our recommendations and beyond putting things right for Ms N. This should help to ensure that vulnerable people like Ms N receive a better service in future.