Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about highway maintenance. This is because there is another body better placed to consider the complaint and it is not a good use of our public resources to investigate how the Council dealt with Mr Y’s complaint.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complained the Council has failed to properly maintain the highway, leading to potholes. He has also complained about the handling of his claim to the Council for the cost of the repairs.
2. Mr Y says he drove into a pothole, causing damage to his vehicle which he has had to have repaired. He has also been caused inconvenience by the handling of his complaint, where he says he has had to chase for a response.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
4. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information Mr Y provided and spoke to him by telephone.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr Y drove over a pothole on a road the Council is responsible for the maintenance of in November 2022. Mr Y says his car was damaged and he had to have his car towed to a garage for repairs. He says he complained to the Council by email on the same day.
8. Mr Y says the Council then referred him to a third party contractor, acting on behalf of the Council to be responsible for highway repairs in the area to continue his complaint. Mr Y says the contractor did not respond for approximately two months.
9. Mr Y contacted the Council about this, who chased up a response from the contractor. The contractor then provided Mr Y with various forms asking for information about the pothole and details about Mr Y and his car, including who his insurer was.
10. Mr Y feels questions, such as when his last MOT was, were not relevant to his complaint and feels the attitude of the contractor’s staff towards his complaint and claim for the cost of the repairs to his car was poor. He says he has not yet been told if the contractor’s insurers have accepted his claim for damages or not. He approached us in April 2023.

Analysis

11. Mr Y has already begun the process of making a claim for the cost of repairs to his vehicle through insurance. As he is claiming for the cost of the repairs, based on an allegedly below standard of repair, this is a negligence matter.
12. The legislation from which the Ombudsman takes their power also places some restrictions on what we may investigate. One of these concerns negligence claims about damage to property or personal injury. These are legal claims which may only be determined by insurers or the courts.
13. We are not able to decide liability or award damages. Consequently, any claim for damages, such as costs for repairs, which Mr Y considers the Council to be responsible for, are matters more appropriately dealt with by the courts. As Mr y has already begun this process it is also reasonable for Mr Y to pursue his claim through either his insurer or the courts. We will not investigate this complaint.
14. Mr Y’s other complaint relates to how his complaint following the damage to his vehicle has been handled, both by the Council and by the contractor acting on behalf of it. However, as we are not investigating the substantive issue of complaint, relating to the damage to Mr Y’s car after driving though the pothole, it is not a good use of our limited public resources to investigate how the complaint was dealt with. Consequently, we will not investigate this issue.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because there is another body better placed to consider the complaint and it is not a good use of our public resources to investigate how the Council dealt with Mr Y’s complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman