Wyre Borough Council (21 010 416)
Category : Environment and regulation > Licensing
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 23 Dec 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a mobile home bought by the complainant. There is nothing to suggest fault by the Council led to the complainant suffering a financial loss. The courts are better to placed to decide who is responsible for any financial losses suffered by the complainant.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr B, bought a mobile home on a site to use as his residence. He says he later became aware the site should only be used for holiday homes and so he sold back the mobile home to the site owner at a loss of £28,000. He believes the Council should either compensate him or take action so the site owner will refund money to him.
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; or
- there is another body better placed to consider the complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr B and the Council. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr B bought the mobile home from the site owner. It was for him to establish any issues relating to the operation of the site before doing so. The Council was not involved in this or in Mr B’s later decision to sell back the mobile home to the site owner.
- We cannot decide if the Council is responsible for Mr B’s financial loss. If Mr B believes the site owner is responsible, he can seek a remedy in the courts. He could include the Council in any proceedings if he believes it is responsible for his loss.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because I have seen no evidence fault by the Council led to him suffering a financial loss. The courts are better placed to decide who, if anyone, is responsible for Mr B's financial loss.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman