Devon County Council (19 011 106)
Category : Transport and highways > Highway repair and maintenance
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 25 Oct 2019
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about damage to his car as it is reasonable to expect Mr X to take legal 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 a metal cover 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 a metal cover in the road.
Analysis
- The Ombudsman cannot determine if the Council is legally liable to pay Mr X’s costs. Only the courts can do this and 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.
- For these reasons, it is reasonable to expect Mr X to resort to court action and the complaint is therefore outside our legal remit.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because Mr X can seek a remedy in the courts.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman