Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about damage to his car from a falling branch. We cannot decide liability in such matters. Mr X is unhappy with how the Council has dealt with his complaint, but we will not look at the handling of his complaint as an individual issue.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mr X, complains a branch fell from a council owned tree and damaged his car. He says the Council’s insurer has refused the claim, despite admitting the tree was scheduled for maintenance which had not taken place. Mr X is also unhappy with the way the Council has dealt with his complaint.

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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:

• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement
• 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))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information provided by Mr X.

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What I found

6. Mr X says a branch from a tree on council land fell and damaged his car. He complained to the Council. Its insurers have refused his claim.
7. We do not intend to investigate Mr X’s complaint as it is essentially a complaint alleging negligence on the Council’s part.
8. Only a court can decide if the Council has been negligent and, if so, whether it should pay any damages Mr X seeks. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to use his right to pursue his claim in the courts. The courts also have powers to enforce any remedy it considers appropriate. The Ombudsman has no such powers.
9. Mr X is also unhappy with the way the Council has dealt with his complaint. But the Ombudsman will not usually investigate complaint or claim handling as standalone issues if we are not going to investigate the substantive issue complained about. This is because we do not consider Mr X has suffered a significant personal injustice arising from the complaint procedure alone which warrants out involvement.

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Final decision

10. I will not investigate this complaint. We cannot decide liability in such matters. And I do not consider Mr X has suffered a significant personal injustice arising from the alleged failures in complaint handling which warrants out involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman