Summary: We will not investigate most of Miss X’s complaint about damage caused to her vehicle by a Council owned tree because it is reasonable for her to take the matters complained about to court. We will not investigate her complaint about the complaints process because the tests in our Assessment Code are not met.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council failed to:

1. conduct relevant inspections on a Council owned tree. Mis X said her vehicle was damaged by the tree; and
2. robustly respond to her complaint.

2. Miss X said the matter caused her distress, frustration, and financial difficulty.
3. Miss X wants the Council to conduct a new complaint investigation, apologise, improve its services, and provide compensation for her damaged vehicle.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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).
5. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), 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. Miss X complained a Council owned tree damaged her vehicle. She submitted a claim against the Council’s insurers but remains dissatisfied with the outcome.
9. We will not investigate this complaint. The role of the Ombudsman is to consider complaints of administrative fault. We cannot decide liability in complaints about damage to property or award a payment of compensation. Only the courts can do this.
10. Because Miss X’s primary complaint is about damage caused to her vehicle, it is reasonable for her to take the matter to court. It is reasonable for her to do so because this is the only means by which she can achieve the outcome she wants.
11. Although Miss X said the Council later inspected and felled the tree, I do not consider this is sufficiently separable from the primary issue of liability. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint because it is too closely related to the matter Miss X could take to court.
12. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue. Therefore, we will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s complaints handling.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate most of Miss X’s complaint because it is reasonable for her to take the matters complained about to court. We will not investigate the remainder because the tests in our Assessment Code are not met.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman