London Borough of Wandsworth (24 022 562)
Category : Other Categories > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 21 Apr 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision it was not liable for a personal injury claim after Miss X said it was negligent. This is because Mrs X has an alternative legal remedy through the courts, and it would be reasonable to expect her to use this alternative remedy.
The complaint
- Miss X said she suffered personal injury after a fall, which she said the Council owed her a duty of care to prevent happening. She also said the Council handled her claim poorly and this has caused unnecessary stress.
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 considered information provided by the complainant and I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Miss X said the Council were liable to pay her compensation following an injury she sustained after a fall. She was also unhappy because the Council took too long to respond to her, about her claim.
- We will not investigate this complaint. We cannot determine liability for personal injury and nor can we award compensation. These are legal claims, and the courts are a more appropriate arena to consider this and decide.
- The Council said it did not believe it was liable. Given the circumstances of Miss X’s complaint about liability for her injury, it would be reasonable to expect her to use this alternative legal remedy to resolve her claim.
- Nor will we investigate how the Council considered her claim including how long it took to decide. This is because we do not consider complaints about these matters, where we are not looking at the substantive issue, because it is not a good use of our resources.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. She has an alternative legal remedy through the courts and given only a court can decide liability and award compensation, it is reasonable to expect her to use this alternative remedy.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman