London Borough of Enfield (19 017 319)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 10 Mar 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mrs X complains about how the Council has dealt with her personal injury claim. The Ombudsman will not investigate as it is reasonable to expect Mrs X to take court action. The complaint is therefore outside the Ombudsman’s legal remit.
The complaint
- Mrs X complains about delay in the Council deciding her personal injury claim.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered what Mrs X said in her complaint. I have written to Mrs X with my draft decision to give her the opportunity to comment.
What I found
- Mrs X complains the Council has made no decision on a claim for compensation she made in July 2019, after she was injured falling, on what she says, was a raised piece of pavement.
Assessment
- The Ombudsman cannot determine whether the Council is legally liable for Mrs X’s injuries or whether compensation should be paid. Only the courts can do this. There is a low- cost procedure open to anyone to make a money claim in the courts or Mrs X could ask a ‘no win no fee’ solicitor to take on her case.
- We consider it is reasonable therefore to expect Mrs X to take court action and we will not investigate as the complaint is outside our legal remit.
Final decision
- My decision is that the Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because it is reasonable to expect Mrs X to take court action for the compensation she seeks. The complaint is therefore outside the Ombudsman’s legal remit.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman