Somerset County Council (19 010 881)
Category : Transport and highways > Highway repair and maintenance
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 31 Oct 2019
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council will not pay for repairs to his car after it was damaged by sunken drains in the road. This is because it is reasonable to expect Mr X to take court action for the compensation he seeks.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains the Council will not pay for repairs to his car after it was damaged by sunken drains in the road.
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 Mr X said in his complaint.
What I found
- Mr X complains the Council will not pay for repairs to his car after it was damaged by sunken drains in the road.
Analysis
- We cannot determine if the Council is legally liable for the damage caused to Mr X’s car. Only the courts can do this. There is a low cost procedure open to anyone to make a money claim through the courts or Mr X could consider using a ‘no win no fee’ solicitor.
- For these reasons, we consider it is reasonable to expect Mr X to seek a remedy through the courts. The complaint is therefore outside our legal remit and we will not investigate.
Final decision
- My decision is that the Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. The complaint is outside our legal remit as it is reasonable to expect Mr X to seek a remedy through the courts.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman