Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about pothole damage to his car as it is reasonable to expect him to take legal action for the compensation he seeks.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains the Council has refused to compensate him for damage caused to his car by a pothole.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered what Mr X said in his complaint.

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What I found

4. Mr X complains the Council has refused to pay compensation for damage caused to his car by a pothole.

Analysis

5. The Ombudsman cannot determine if the Council is legally liable to pay compensation to Mr X; only the courts can do this. There is a simple low cost procedure open to anyone to make a money claim in the courts or Mr X could consider using a ‘no win no fee’ solicitor.
6. For these reasons, it is reasonable to expect Mr X to take court action. The complaint is therefore outside our legal remit and we will not investigate.

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Final decision

7. My decision is that the Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint as Mr X can take legal action for the compensation he seeks.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman