Transport for London (21 007 220)
Category : Environment and regulation > Licensing
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 01 Nov 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Transport for London not refunding a fee for a private hire vehicle inspection. It is unlikely we would find fault caused the complainant significant injustice.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr Y, complained Transport for London (TfL) will not refund £84 he paid for a private hire vehicle inspection.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’.
- We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if, for example, we believe:
- it is unlikely we would find fault;
- any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained; or
- any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr Y. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
- TfL will refund a fee for an inspection if it is cancelled more than 24 hours before the appointment. TfL says it has evidence Mr Y called the day before his appointment but this was within 24 hours of it. It has no record of an any earlier contact from Mr Y. While it accepts it gave wrong advice to Mr Y when he did call, it has properly applied its policy and refused to refund the fee.
- Mr Y has provided no evidence he contacted TfL earlier. As nearly a year passed before he contacted us, it is unlikely he would be able to do so now.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because, on the balance of probabilities, we are unlikely to find fault by TfL caused him injustice that warrants our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman