Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council charged her for mooring her boat when she was unable to leave due to bad weather. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council wrongly charged her additional mooring fees when she was unable to leave one of its harbours due to bad weather for several weeks.
2. Mrs X says she did not agree to these fees and therefore, she should not have to pay them.

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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 not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (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 provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs X had an agreement with the Council to moor her boat in the harbour from three months over winter at the lower out of season rate.
7. However, because of the weather, Mrs X was unable to leave for around another two months.
8. The Council sent Mrs X a bill for the additional two months of mooring fees. It agreed she could continue to pay the lower rate for the additional months, even though this period was over and the higher rates had started.
9. We will not investigate this complaint. Neither party was responsible for the poor weather. However, Mrs X as a boat owner, will have known when she made the booking about the vagaries of the weather and the potential for it to prevent or delay plans. Therefore, she undertook the mooring at her own risk. Under these circumstances, I can see no evidence of fault in the way the Council made its decision to charge Mrs X for the additional weeks of mooring.
10. If Mrs X believes there has been a breach of contract, she can take the matter to the courts who are better placed to determine such matters.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman