Summary: We will not investigate Ms Q’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her insurance claim regarding tree root damage. The Council’s insurers are better placed to deal with the matter. And, ultimately, Ms Q may go to court.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I have called Ms Q, complained about West Suffolk Council’s handling of her insurance claim about one of its trees. She said the tree’s roots had damaged her parking space and was preventing surface water from draining away.

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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’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. 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

4. I considered the information Ms Q provided. I invited Ms Q to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

5. Ms Q’s property has a parking space. She contacted the Council because roots from one of its trees had damaged the surface of the parking space and was preventing surface water from draining.
6. The Council inspected the tree and parking space and decided no action was necessary. Following further contact from Ms Q it sent her an insurance claim form. Ms Q completed and returned the claim form to the Council in September 2018.
7. Ms Q heard nothing from the Council for some time. She pressed it for a response to her insurance claim. The Council inspected the tree and parking space again and decided there was some damage. It asked Ms Q to provide quotes to repair the damage. Ms Q continued to correspond with the Council but has not provided evidence showing she sent it any quotes for the repair work.

Assessment

8. We will not investigate this complaint.
9. Ms Q is unhappy with the Council’s handling of her insurance claim regarding the damage to her parking space. However, the information she provided shows the Council is waiting for her to provide quotes for the repair works. It is open to her to do so now – if she has not already done so – so that the Council’s insurers can progress her claim. They are better placed to consider the matter.
10. Ultimately, however, Ms Q may go to court regarding the damage to her parking space. I think it would be reasonable for her to do so if she is dissatisfied with the outcome of her insurance claim or if the Council fails to reach a decision on it.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint for the reasons given in the Assessment.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman