Summary: Miss X complains her car insurance premium has increased dramatically following an incident last year when a Council waste collection vehicle caused damage to her parked car. She says it has refused to deal with her complaint about these matters, which have caused her significant distress and financial loss. She states she will have to sell her car if she cannot recuperate the cost of the increased premium and wants the Council to compensate her. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is reasonable to expect Miss X to seek compensation in the courts if the Council will not provide this.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall refer to as Miss X, complains her car insurance premium has increased dramatically following an incident last year when a Council waste collection vehicle caused damage to her parked car. She says it has refused to deal with her complaint about these matters, which have caused her significant distress and financial loss. She states she will have to sell her car if she cannot recuperate the cost of the increased premium and wants the Council to compensate her.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information submitted by Miss X in support of her complaint and provided her with an opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

Back to top

What I found

6. In October 2018, a Council waste collection vehicle drove into Miss X’s park car and damaged it. She subsequently submitted a claim to the Council’s insurers and her car was fixed. However, she states the complaint she made at the time about the matter was not resolved.
7. This year, she says her insurance company increased her premium after she notified it of the incident. She states she complained to the Council about the matter but it won’t accept her complaint. Instead, she says it referred her request for compensation to its insurers for consideration.

Analysis

8. The Ombudsman cannot investigate claims about damage to property or any financial loss resulting from this. These are legal claims of negligence and liability which insurers deal with. Therefore, in this case, I cannot decide whether the Council is liable to pay Miss X compensation or how much this should be.
9. She has asked the Council to compensate her for her increased insurance premium and it has referred the matter to its insurer, as we would expect it to do. If it decides not to pay her compensation or she is unhappy with any amount she is awarded, it is reasonable to expect her to pursue the matter in the courts. Therefore, I will not investigate this part of her complaint as she can take the matter to court.
10. I understand Miss X also complains about the way the Council handled her complaints about these matters. However, we will not investigate any concerns about complaint handling if we do not investigate the substantive matter being complained about. Therefore, I will not investigate this part of Miss X’s complaint.

Back to top

Final decision

11. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is reasonable to expect Miss X to seek compensation in the courts if the Council will not provide this.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman