Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint that she suffered injuries after tripping on a defective pavement. This is because it is reasonable for Mrs B to pursue her compensation claim by taking the Council to court.

The complaint

1. Mrs B says she tripped and suffered injuries due to the Council’s failure to fix a defective pavement. Mrs B says the incident caused her considerable pain and distress and she had to pay over £5,000 for the required dental work.
2. Mrs B complains the Council has refused her compensation claim and told her wrong information about when it repaired this pavement after the incident.
3. Mrs B would like the Council to apologise and pay her compensation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. The Act 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)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Mrs B.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. We do not normally investigate personal injury complaints. This is because in effect such complaints are that an organisation has been negligent. Our role is to consider complaints of administrative fault. Negligence claims are best decided by an organisation’s insurers, and if needed, the courts.
9. Mrs B has received the Council’s decision on her compensation claim. Mrs B may now pursue her claim by taking the Council to court.
10. Only the courts can decide if the Council was negligent, and if so, make an order for damages. We cannot recommend actions or payments that ‘punish’ an organisation. Because of the impact of the incident on Mrs B and the significant costs she has incurred, I find it is reasonable and proportionate for Mrs B to pursue her claim at court.
11. Because we are not investigating the substantive matter, an investigation solely into the information the Council provided to Mrs B would not be a good use of our limited resources or achieve a meaningful outcome for Mrs B.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because it is reasonable for her to take the Council to court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman