Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about Transport for London’s refusal of her application for its car scrappage scheme. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault affecting the decision.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains Transport for London (TfL) wrongly refused her application for the car scrappage scheme.

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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 effect 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 the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. TfL operated a car scrappage scheme until September 2024. The purpose of the scheme was to incentivise residents living in London to upgrade older, more polluting cars and motorcycles to newer vehicles which meet the emissions standards for TfL’s ultra-low emission zone. The scheme had several criteria, one of which was that the vehicle proposed to be scrapped had to be taxed on the date of the application.
6. Mrs X’s application was dated 28 June 2024 and TfL received it on 3 July 2024. Mrs X later provided evidence to show she had paid the road tax for the vehicle in March 2024, effective from 1 April 2024, for the six months until October 2024. She therefore believed she met the criteria for the scheme.
7. However, when TfL considered the application it found Mrs X had registered her vehicle as off the road (‘Statutory off Road Notification’, or SORN). It asked Mrs X for evidence of when she had done this and Mrs X provided a letter from the DVLA confirming the SORN, which is dated 26 June 2024.
8. When registering a car as SORN this cancels any vehicle tax which is already in place. So when Mrs X registered her car as SORN this cancelled the vehicle tax she had paid for in March 2024 and she received a refund for the unused tax. This then meant her vehicle was not taxed at the date of her application on 28 June and she was not therefore eligible for a payment under the scrappage scheme.
9. Mrs X is clearly unhappy about TfL’s decision but I have seen no evidence to show it was affected by fault. TfL’s correspondence with Mrs X and her MP could have better explained the reasons it refused her application but this does not alter the fact Mrs X’s vehicle was SORN, and not taxed, when she applied on 28 June 2024 and her application did not therefore meet the criteria.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by TfL.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman