Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about highway maintenance because the courts are better placed to deal with the complaint.

The complaint

1. Ms Y complained the Council failed to maintain a drainage ditch, causing part of the highway to flood. Ms Y says her property has been damaged as a result and the lane has been damaged significant.
2. Ms Y says she has sought to make a claim against the Council for repair works.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information Ms Y provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Ms Y says her property has been damaged as a result of the Council’s failure to maintain the drainage ditch nearby. She is seeking over £6,500 for the costs of the repairs needed to her home. Ms Y also says the flooding has led to damage along the lane. She says it was resurfaced in 2018 and is the only access to her property. She says the resurfacing cost £4,200 and the lane would not have been so significantly damaged if the Council had maintained the ditch properly. Ms Y says it now needs significant repair work to return it to its previous condition.
6. 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. We cannot determine liability claims for negligence. These are legal claims which may only be determined by insurers or the courts.
7. We are not able to decide liability or award damages. Consequently, any claim for damages, such as costs for repairs, which Ms Y considers the Council to be responsible for, are matters more appropriately dealt with by the courts. It is therefore reasonable for Ms Y to pursue this claim through either the Council’s insurer or the courts. We will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Ms Y’s complaint because the courts are better placed to deal with the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman