Summary: Mr X complained the Council wrongly treated his car as abandoned and towed it away. He said he incurred costs to release his car and then the Council refused to accept his complaint about the matter. The Council was at fault. The Council accepted its 7-day vehicle removal form contained errors making it invalid, and it should have investigated Mr X’s complaint in line with its corporate complaints’ procedure. The Council agreed to refund Mr X the £318 in fees he paid to release his car. It also agreed to pay him £150 to recognise the frustration, uncertainty and time and trouble caused by its poor handling of his complaint.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council wrongly treated his car as abandoned and towed it away. Mr X said he incurred avoidable costs to release his car and the Council refused to consider his complaint about the matter which caused him frustration and time and trouble.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

4. I spoke to Mr X about his complaint.
5. I considered the Council’s response to my enquiry letter.
6. Mr X and the Council had the opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered comments before I made a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Abandoned vehicles

7. Government guidance says relevant authorities must decide if a vehicle is abandoned. This is likely if at least one of the following applies:
• It has no keep on the DVLA’s database and is untaxed.
• It is stationary for a significant amount of time.
• Its significantly damaged, run down or unroadworthy, for example has flat tyres, missing wheels or broken windows.
• It is burned out.
• A number plate is missing.
8. Councils have a duty to remove abandoned vehicles from land (including private land) and roads (including private roads).
9. Councils can penalise people who abandon vehicles or parts of vehicles on roads or land by either issuing a fixed penalty notice (FPN) or prosecuting them.
10. Councils can dispose of abandoned vehicles immediately if it has no number plates or is untaxed, or if its only fit to be destroyed. Otherwise it must give owners 7 days’ written notice to collect the vehicle before disposing of it.
11. The Council has an abandoned vehicles policy. This says if its enforcement officers consider a vehicle to be abandoned, they will fill out a Vehicle Condition Report and then decide whether to attach a removal notice to the vehicle. If the police have no interest in the vehicle, the enforcement officer may then remove it.
12. Its 7-day removal notice sets out the following criteria for categorising vehicles:
• Vehicle under observation as possibly abandoned;
• Vehicle illegally placed on a verge without permission;
• Vehicle is obstructing passage and preventing regular maintenance and cleaning of the highway.
• Vehicle constitutes a risk and poses a danger to public health and contributes to the detriment of the area.
13. Legislation sets out prescribed costs and charges which councils can charge for removing abandoned vehicles and then storing them.

Council’s corporate complaints policy

14. The Council’s complaints policy says some things are not covered by its complaints procedure because they are either covered by another policy or procedure or are outside the Council’s control. The policy says this includes matters where a separate means of resolution exists, for example, an appeals process, courts or tribunals.

What happened

15. Mr X is a foreign national but owns a home in the United Kingdom (UK). He has a car which he keeps in the UK and this has foreign number plates. At the end of November 2019 Mr X parked his car on road A. This was so he could catch a bus to the airport to fly back to his home country. Mr X told me his UK home is rural and therefore there are limited public transport options.
16. At the start of December 2019, a resident on road A contacted the Council and reported Mr X’s car abandoned. The resident said the car had been parked on the road for around four weeks, had damage to the bodywork and had no tax.
17. Following the report, the Council attended Road A to assess Mr X’s car. The Council officer who attended filled out a 7-day removal notice and ticked all criteria boxes. The notice warned it was offence to abandon the vehicle and said the Council would remove it within 7-days of the notice. The Council noted that as Mr X’s car had a foreign number plate it could not check keeper details with the DVLA.
18. As Mr X did not remove his car in the given timeframe, the Council towed it away to its storage centre.
19. In late December 2019 Mr X flew back into the UK and went back to place he left his car parked. After making some phone calls Mr X found that the Council had towed his car away. Mr X attended at the Council’s vehicle storage centre. He received a copy of the 7-day removal notice and paid £318 in fees to release his car.
20. Mr X complained to the Council. He asked why it towed his car away. Mr X said the Council had ticked that his car was illegally parked on the 7-day removal notice. However, he said it was legally parked on the road and it had a valid MOT, was insured and taxed. Mr X said he incurred additional travel costs on top of the £318 release fee and the matter had caused him time and trouble and uncertainty.
21. The Council responded to Mr X. It said it was unable to accept his complaint as part of its corporate complaints’ procedure because Mr X had a legal resolution. The Council did not explain what this legal resolution was but told him to seek legal advice. The Council said a senior officer would contact Mr X to discuss the matter.
22. Mr X wrote back to the Council a week later. He was unhappy it had not explained why it towed his car away. Mr X said the senior officer had not contacted him as promised.
23. The Council wrote again to Mr X. It said again that the matter did not fall within its corporate complaints’ procedure. It said Mr X had an alternative means of resolution via the courts.
24. Mr X remained unhappy and complained to the Ombudsman.

My analysis and findings

25. In response to my enquiry letter the Council said it had reviewed the case and concluded the 7-day notice used to assess Mr X’s car as abandoned was invalid and contained administrative errors. The Council agreed that Mr X’s car was legally parked and therefore its officer should not have ticked the box saying otherwise. The Council also identified that the form contained errors which again invalidated the form. This was fault. The Council has offered to refund Mr X the £318 in fees he paid to release the car, which is an appropriate remedy.
26. When Mr X complained, the Council said one its senior officers would contact him to discuss the matter. The officer did not contact Mr X as promised. This was fault and caused Mr X frustration.
27. The Council would not accept Mr X’s complaint because it said he had an alternative resolution through the courts. However, the records show the Council did not issue Mr X with a Fixed Penalty Notice or any other type of ticket which would have allowed him to challenge the matter in a court. Therefore, the Council should have dealt with Mr X’s complaint in line with its corporate complaints’ procedure. Not doing so was fault and caused Mr X uncertainty and frustration. Had it dealt with it at the time it is likely it would have resolved the matter much earlier and saved Mr X the time and trouble coming to us.
28. In response to my enquiry letter the Council accepted it should have investigated Mr X’s complaint. It said it has already shared the learning from this matter with staff to ensure it accepts future complaints of a similar nature. This is an appropriate service improvement in response to the matter.

Agreed action

29. Within one month of the final decision the Council agreed to:
• Write to Mr X and apologise to him for towing his car away and for how it handled his complaint about the matter. It will also refund the £318 he paid in fees to release his car.
• Pay Mr X £150 to recognise the frustration, uncertainty and time and trouble caused by its poor handling of his complaint.

Back to top

Final decision

30. I have completed my investigation. I have found fault and the Council agreed to my recommendations to remedy the injustice caused by the faults.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman