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

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about Council delay in dealing with his claim for compensation for pothole damage to his car.

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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)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered what Mr X said in his complaint and given Mr X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

5. Mr X submitted an insurance claim to the Council in March 2020 after a pothole damaged his car. Mr X says the Council is yet to respond.
6. The Council told me it was due to respond mid December.

Analysis

7. We will not investigate as we consider it is reasonable for Mr X to resort to court action for the compensation he seeks.
8. There is a simple, low-cost procedure open to anyone to make a money claim in the courts or Mr X could ask a ‘no win, no fee’ solicitor to take on his case. We cannot determine if the Council is legally liable for the damage to Mr X’s car or if compensation should be paid. Only the courts can do this.
9. Taking court action provides a remedy for the substantive injustice to Mr X ie the damage to his car. While I appreciate Mr X is frustrated that the Council has not yet dealt with his claim, the injustice to him from this alone, from our perspective is not significant enough to warrant us investigating.

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Final decision

10. My decision is that the Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because Mr X can take court action for the compensation he seeks and the Council delay does not represent a level of injustice to warrant our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman