Staffordshire County Council (19 011 907)
Category : Transport and highways > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 06 Nov 2019
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council will not compensate him for pothole damage to his car as it reasonable to expect Mr X to resort to court action for the compensation he seeks.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains the Council will not compensate him for damage caused to his car by a pothole.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered what Mr X said in his complaint.
What I found
- Mr X complains the Council will not compensate him for damage caused to his car by a pothole.
Analysis
- We cannot determine if the Council is legally liable for the damage caused to Mr X’s complaint or if compensation for the damage should be paid. Only the courts can do this. There is a simple, low cost procedure open to anyone to make a money claim in the courts or Mr X could consider using a ‘no win no fee’ solicitor.
- For these reasons, we consider it is reasonable to expect Mr X to resort to court action for the compensation he seeks. The complaint is therefore outside our legal remit.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to resort to court action and so the complaint is outside our legal remit.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman