Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about how the Council has considered whether damage to her property has been caused by its contractor’s coastal works. The core complaint is a claim of legal liability for property damage. It would not be unreasonable for Mrs X to put her claim to the Council’s insurers and before the courts if required.

The complaint

1. Mrs X lives in a coastal property. She complains the Council:
1. inappropriately influenced a surveyor they had commissioned to assess interior cracks to the walls of her property to change their decision and find they were not caused by their contractor’s nearby works;
2. has refused to employ another surveyor.
2. Mrs X says the coastal works have damaged her property. She says she has lost faith in the Council. Mrs X says the stress of the matter has come at a difficult time when she was already been receiving medical treatment.
3. Mrs X wants the Council to either pay for a different surveyor who is independent, or to accept the initial survey’s decision and therefore pay for the redecoration of her property.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information from Mrs X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. We note Mrs X is not satisfied with the way the Council and its surveyor have dealt with her property damage allegation and disagrees with the outcome reached. Her complaint refers to the Council’s assessment of that allegation, part of which was the use of a surveyor. But the issue at the core of Mrs X complaint is an allegation that the Council’s contractor’s nearby works have caused vibration damage to her property.
7. Mrs X’s complaint amounts to a legal liability dispute between her and the Council which we cannot resolve. We cannot determine the Council bears responsibility for the reported damage to her property and must pay to fix it. Only insurers or the courts can determine questions of legal liability for property damage.
8. It is possible the surveyor used by the Council was part of its response to an insurance claim made by Mrs X. If it was not, Mrs X may wish to make a claim to the Council’s insurers to seek a remedy for the damage. If the Council’s insurer refuses the claim, she would need to put it before the courts. It would not be unreasonable for Mrs X to pursue this route and take her claim to court if required. This is because it is the body with the standing and expertise to decide legal liability disputes of this kind and can issue binding rulings whereas we can only make recommendations.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the core complaint is a claim of legal liability for property damage which it would not be unreasonable for Mrs X to make to the Council’s insurers and then put before the courts if required.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman