Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about damage caused by Council owned trees to her property. This is because it is reasonable for Miss X to take the matter to court.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about damage caused to her property by Council owned trees. Miss X also complained a remaining Council owned tree poses a risk to her property.
2. Miss X says the matter impacted her financially and caused her distress and frustration.
3. Miss X wants the Council to pay her costs and remove the remaining tree.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. 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

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

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My assessment

8. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaints about damage caused to her property by Council owned trees, or the remaining tree which she says poses a risk.
9. The role of the Ombudsman is to consider complaints of administrative fault. We cannot decide liability in complaints about damage to property, only the courts can do this. Miss X submitted a claim to the Council’s insurers, who rejected the claim. It is now open to Miss X to take the matter to the small claims court, and it is reasonable to expect her to do so.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is reasonable for her to take the matters complained about to court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman