Isle of Wight Council (21 010 519)
Category : Transport and highways > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 29 Nov 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr X complains the Council failed to act to prevent flooding to his home over many years. We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint. This is because there are no good reasons why he should not seek a remedy in the courts for his losses.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council failed to protect his property from flood damage over many years. He confirms he is negotiating with the Council’s loss adjusters; however, he says this only covers the last 3 years.
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 considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
- The complainant now has an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I will consider their comments before making a final decision.
My assessment
- Mr X says he has experienced flooding and associated damage over the last 20 years at his home. He says the Council has recently confirmed it did not carry out an original drainage scheme because of cost and an inadequate scheme was put in place instead. However, the Council is now fulfilling the original scheme.
- He also confirms he has made a claim on the Council’s insurance and is negotiating with the insurance loss adjuster.
- We do not normally investigate claims about damage to property or personal injury because these are civil matters which can only be determined by insurers or the courts.
- We have discretion to disapply this rule if we decide there are good reasons to do so.
- In this case Mr X has already made an insurance claim. If this is not successful, I see no reason why he cannot ask the courts to decide whether the Council is liable for the historical damage to his home.
Final decision
- I will not investigate this complaint. I have seen no reason why Mr X should not seek a remedy in court for his losses, should his insurance claim fail.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman