Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council will not compensate him for damage caused to his car after it left the road on a sharp bend. 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 will not compensate him after his car was written off at an accident at a sharp bend.

Back to top

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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered what Mr X said in his complaint. I have written to Mr X with my draft decision and given him an opportunity to comment.

Back to top

What I found

4. Mr X complains the Council will not compensate him after his car was written off at an accident at a sharp bend. Mr X says a warning sign about the bend was missing.

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.

Back to top

Final decision

7. My decision is that the Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because it is reasonable to expect Mr X to seek a remedy through the courts and so the complaint is outside the Ombudsman’s legal remit.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman