Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about damage to his wife’s car from a falling branch. This is because we cannot decide liability in such matters. Mr X is unhappy with how the Council has dealt with his claim, but we will not look at complaint handling as a standalone issue.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains a branch fell from a council owned tree and damaged his wife’s car. Mr X wants the Council to pay the £75 excess charged by his wife’s insurer. Mr X is unhappy with the way the Council has dealt with his claim, including the time taken to process it.

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’. 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)
4. The Courts have said that we cannot investigate a complaint about any action by a council, concerning a matter which is itself out of our jurisdiction. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered Mr X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information he provided. I also gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on a draft statement before reaching a final decision on his complaint.

Back to top

What I found

6. Mr X says a branch from a tree on council land damaged his wife’s car. Mr X says he and his wife have a joint insurance policy for the car. Mr X has submitted a claim to the Council containing his wife’s details. He is unhappy with the length of time taken to process the claim.
7. The Ombudsman will not normally become involved in complaints involving damage to property. This is because they are best decided by insurers, and ultimately, the courts.
8. In response to my enquiries the Council said it had tried to pay Mr X’s claim, but the payment had failed. It had asked for revised payment details and would try again. Mr X, and if necessary, his wife, will need to contact the Council to ensure it has the correct payment details. This is not something the Ombudsman will become involved in.
9. Mr X is also unhappy with how long it has taken the Council to pay his claim. But the Ombudsman will not investigate complaint or claim handling as standalone issues if we are not going to investigate the substantive issue complained about. This applies here and so the Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint.

Back to top

Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because we cannot decide liability in such matters. Mr X is also unhappy with how the Council has dealt with his claim, but we will not look at this as a standalone issue.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman