Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council will not compensate him for damage caused to his car by a pothole. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to resort to court action for the compensation he seeks and the complaint is therefore outside the Ombudsman’s legal remit.

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 had to replace a wheel on his car after it was damaged by a pothole. Mr X complains the Council has refused to pay for his repair costs.

Assessment

5. The Ombudsman cannot determine if the Council is legally liable for the damage caused to Mr X’s car or whether it should pay compensation. Ultimately, 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.
6. For these reasons, it is reasonable to expect Mr X to resort to court action and 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 should not investigate this complaint. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to seek compensation through the courts and the complaint is therefore outside our legal remit.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman