London Borough of Tower Hamlets (23 016 129)
Category : Transport and highways > Highway repair and maintenance
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 06 Feb 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a personal injury as it is reasonable to expect Mrs X to resort to court action for the compensation she seeks.
The complaint
- Mrs X complained the Council did not accept her claim for compensation for injuries she sustained after a fall. Mrs X wants the Council to consider her claim again but without reference to its legal defence to her claim under the Highways Act 1980.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
- We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- We cannot determine whether the Council is legally liable for Mrs X’s injuries or whether it should pay compensation to her. These are matters which only a court can decide.
- We cannot ask the Council to consider Mrs X’s claim without having reference to the law and so we cannot achieve the re-consideration she seeks.
- For these reasons, we will not investigate.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect her to resort to court action for the compensation she seeks and we cannot ask the Council to re-consider the claim in the way Mrs X would want.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman