Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a penalty charge notice issued by the Council. This is because his injustice stems from his agreement with the hire company and it has now paid the penalty charge.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains about a a penalty charge notice (PCN) issued by the Council. He has been charged £105 for the PCN by the hire company that owns the vehicle.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I reviewed Mr X’s complaint, made enquiries of the Council and considered its response. I shared my draft decision with Mr X and invited his comments.

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What I found

4. The Council issued a PCN for a bus lane contravention in January 2020. The owner of the vehicle is a hire company and at the time of the contravention in December 2019 Mr X was driving it. The hire company paid the PCN at the discounted rate of £65 and passed the cost to Mr X along with an administration fee of £40. It also sent Mr X a copy of the PCN.
5. Mr X tried to challenge the PCN via the Council’s website but this showed the status as paid and it would not therefore allow him to submit a challenge. Mr X complained to the Council but it confirmed it would not consider the matter under its complaints procedure as the PCN carried a right of appeal. It passed Mr X’s correspondence to its processing team to review but confirms the case is closed.
6. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. In law it is the owner/registered keeper of a vehicle who is liable for PCNs regardless of who was driving at the time of the contravention. The Council issued the PCN to the hire company and it decided to pay the PCN and pass the cost to Mr X. Mr X’s injustice therefore stems from his agreement to indemnify the hire company for the cost of any PCNs and not directly from the Council’s issue of the PCN.
7. Mr X has no right of appeal against the PCN as he is not liable for it and because the hire company has paid the PCN the case is closed. If Mr X believes the hire company was wrong to pay the PCN or that it cannot seek to recover its costs from him this is a matter he should raise with the hire company. He may also wish to seek legal advice.

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Final decision

8. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because Mr X’s injustice stems from his agreement with the hire company and not from the Council’s actions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman