Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council will not replace the complainant’s personal bin which was lost in the collection van. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council will not replace his personal bin which was lost during a garden wate collection. He wants the Council to return or replace the bin.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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. We do not start an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and information about the garden waste service. I also considered our Assessment Code and invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

4. Mr X has a subscription to use the garden waste service. The provides for one bin to be emptied every two weeks.
5. Mr X also owned a personal bin which he says he used for storage.
6. In January his garden waste bin was lost. It seems likely cold weather caused the bin to become lost in the back of the lorry. The Council provided Mr X with a free replacement bin.
7. Mr X also reported that his personal bin had been lost in the lorry during the same collection and he asked the Council to replace it. The Council declined because Mr X only has a subscription for one bin so only one bin can be replaced. The Council said it is not liable to replace unauthorised containers and his personal bin was not authorised as he has one subscription. The Council said the second bin should not have been presented for collection and images of his property show there is no need for Mr X to keep storage bins near the collection point.
8. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council correctly replaced one bin as part of Mr X’s subscription to the garden waste service. However, the second bin was not part of the subscription and the Council has explained why it will not replace it. The Council has also explained that if Mr X had kept the bin at a storage location, away from the collection point, the bin would not have been taken. If Mr X remains of the view the Council is liable for his loss he could make a claim on the Council’s insurance. Any claim Mr X makes would be determined by the Council’s insurers and there is no guarantee of success.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman