Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint about damage to her property. This is because it is not our role to decide negligence claims and the alleged injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complains Council workers scratched the paint from her front wall when cutting the grass verge outside her home. Mrs B says when this first happened the Council gave her money to buy a tin of paint, which she has used each time her wall has been damaged in this way.
2. Mrs B says this paint tin has now run out and the Council has not accepted responsibility for the most recent damage. Mrs B says the Council has been dismissive and got the facts wrong. Mrs B would like the Council to pay for a new tin of paint so she can repair the damage.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully.
4. We do not start an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm or distress as a direct result of faults or failures by an organisation.
5. We also do not start an investigation if there is another body better placed to consider a complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Mrs B.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. We will not investigate this complaint for two reasons.
9. First, complaints about property damage are best decided by an organisation’s insurers, and if needed, the courts. This is because ultimately such complaints are that an organisation has been negligent. Our role is to consider complaints of administrative fault. We cannot decide negligence claims nor order a party to pay damages.
10. Second, we must focus our limited resources on complaints where a person has suffered serious loss, harm or distress. I find the alleged fault by the Council has not caused Mrs B a significant or serious injustice which would justify public money being spent on an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because the courts are better placed to decide complaints about property damage. And, the alleged injustice does not justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman