Surrey County Council (20 001 459)
Category : Transport and highways > Highway repair and maintenance
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 04 Aug 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about pothole damage to his car as it is reasonable to expect Mr X to resort to court action for the compensation he seeks.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council has failed to pay for repairs to his car after it was damaged by a pothole.
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 has failed to pay for repairs to his car after it was damaged by a pothole.
Analysis
- The Ombudsman cannot determine if the Council is legally liable for the damage 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, it is reasonable to expect Mr X to resort to court action for the compensation he seeks.
Final decision
- My decision is that the Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is reasonable to expect Mr X to resort to court action for the compensation he seeks.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman