Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint about the Council’s delay deciding her compensation claim. This is because an investigation is unlikely to add to the Council’s own investigation or achieve a meaningful outcome.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complains the Council took almost two years to decide her compensation claim after her car was damaged by a pothole. Mrs B also says the Council did not respond to her complaint and only responded after she complained to the Ombudsman. Mrs B would like the Council to reimburse her repair costs.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 an investigation if we decide:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mrs B and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. We take the view vehicle damage claims are best decided by an organisation’s insurers, and if needed, the courts.
6. We would not normally investigate a complaint which is only about the handling of a claim or complaint. This is because such an investigation is unlikely to be a good use of our limited resources or provide a meaningful outcome for the person who has complained.
7. The Council has recently responded to Mrs B’s complaint. The Council agreed to reimburse Mrs B’s repair costs. The Council said at times it has been waiting to receive relevant documents for Mrs B’s claim. But, the Council accepted it had taken longer than expected to reach a decision. The Council apologised to Mrs B for this delay.
8. Because the Council has now responded to both Mrs B’s claim and complaint, an investigation by the Ombudsman is unlikely to significantly add to the Council’s own investigation or be a good use of public money.
9. So, we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because it is unlikely an investigation would add to the Council’s own investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman