Warrington Council (19 004 784)
Category : Transport and highways > Highway repair and maintenance
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 12 Sep 2019
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate whether damage to a car which hit a pothole in the road was caused by the Council’s negligence. This is a matter for the courts to decide. He will not investigate how the Council dealt with a complaint about this because the central issue is outside his jurisdiction.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr C, has complained about the Council’s handling of his claim for the cost of damage to his car. He is also unhappy with how the Council has dealt with his complaint about this.
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)
- We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we cannot deal with the main issue. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered what Mr C said in his complaint.
What I found
- Mr C says his car was damaged when it hit a pothole in a road maintained by the Council. The Council has denied liability and will not pay for the damage. Mr C says the Council passed his complaint to another council and the resulting delay has caused him stress.
- Mr C’s main complaint is the Council has been negligent. Adjudication on questions of negligence usually involves deciding contested questions of fact and law which need the more rigorous and structured procedures of civil litigation for their proper determination. In addition, only a court can decide if a council has been negligent and what damages must be paid.
- We cannot decide whether a council has been negligent and have no powers to enforce an award of damages. For this reason, we would usually expect someone in Mr C’s position to seek a remedy in the courts, directly or through his insurers.
Final decision
- I have decided we will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is no exceptional reason Mr C cannot seek a remedy in court. As we will not investigate the central issue, we will not investigate how the Council has dealt with his complaint about this.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman