Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s claim the Council has not reached a decision on his claim for pothole damage to his vehicle reported in April. There is insufficient injustice to investigate and the Council is dealing with the claim.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has failed to deal with his claim, reported on 27 April, for pothole damage to his car and loss of earnings. Mr X says the Council should apologise for the delay and reimburse his costs which are £1000.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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

5. I have considered Mr X’s information and discussed the complaint with him by telephone.

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My assessment

6. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint for the following reasons:
7. There is insufficient injustice to investigate. The Council is dealing with Mr X’s claim and has not yet made a decision. Mr X tells me he has recently received a second batch of forms to complete and return.

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Final decision

8. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s claim the Council has not reached a decision on his claim for pothole damage to his vehicle reported in April. There is insufficient injustice to investigate and the Council is dealing with the claim

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman