Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms B’s complaint the Council removed her vehicle after deciding it had been abandoned. Further consideration of the complaint is unlikely to find fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Ms B, complains the Council removed her car from a parking bay on the road even though it had valid tax, insurance, MOT and a parking permit. Ms B says the Council gave no notice it was going to remove the vehicle and she had to pay £200 to recover it from storage. Ms B says she also incurred taxi fees and loss of earnings after her car was removed and wants the Council to reimburse these costs.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered the information Ms B provided and the Council’s responses to her complaints. I have considered government guidance and the Council’s policy on abandoned vehicles. I sent a draft decision to Ms B’s representative to invite comments before I made a final decision.

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What I found

4. Ms B has explained she realised her car had been removed from a parking space on the road and contacted the Council. The Council told her it considered the car had been abandoned and Ms B would need to collect it from the storage facility and pay £200 for its release.
5. Ms B complains her car had valid tax, insurance, MOT and parking permit and was parked in a marked parking bay. She had been out of the country for three months but did not agree her car was abandoned. Ms B complained the Council had given her no notice of its intention to remove the vehicle.
6. In response to Ms B’s complaint, the Council has said officers had viewed the car in the same position in August and October 2018 and January 2019 and it had a flat tyre, rusty brakes and did not appear to have been moved during that time. The Council considers it removed Ms B’s vehicle legally and has refused her request to reimburse her fees and additional costs.
7. While Ms B considers the Council unlawfully removed her vehicle, the Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint.
8. The Ombudsman can only criticise the Council’s decisions if they are made with fault. Government guidance ( available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/abandoned-vehicles-council-responsibilities ) says the normal 15 day notice period before removing an abandoned vehicle does not apply if a vehicle is abandoned on a road or highway. As Ms B’s car was parked on the road, there are no reasons for the Ombudsman to criticise the Council for removing the car without giving Ms B notice.
9. Ms B challenges the Council’s view that her car was abandoned, but the Council’s response is that it had a flat tyre and had not been moved for months. The Council has referred to the government guidance that says a vehicle is likely to be abandoned if at least one of the following applies:
• It has no keeper on DVLA’s database and is untaxed
• It’s stationary for a significant amount of time
• It’s significantly damaged, run down or unroadworthy – for example has flat tyres, missing wheels or broken windows
• it's burned out
• a number plate is missing
10. The Council also considered its own policy for dealing with abandoned vehicles. This says, ‘Even if a vehicle is owned by someone it can still be classified as an abandoned or nuisance vehicle if it meets the above criteria’.
11. As the Council removed Ms B’s car after considering its condition, the length of time it had remained stationary, government guidance and its own policy, there are no reasons for the Ombudsman to criticise the Council for the way it made its decisions.

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Final decision

12. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because further consideration of the complaint is unlikely to find fault by the Council.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman