Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s action to recover payment for a penalty charge notice issued in 2014. This is because the complaint is late and it would have been reasonable for Mrs X to put the matter to the Traffic Enforcement Centre.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains about recovery action taken by the Council for payment of a penalty charge notice (PCN) in 2014/15. She says a visit by the Council’s enforcement agents (bailiffs) caused her distress and upset her daughter. She also claims financial loss of £407.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I reviewed Mrs X’s complaint and the bailiff’s response to her subject access request, dated 4 December 2018. I shared my draft decision with Mrs X and invited her comments.

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What I found

6. The Council issued Mrs X a PCN for a bus lane contravention in 2014. Documentation about bus lane contraventions is issued to the address of the registered keeper, as held by the DVLA, by post. Mrs X says she did not receive the Council’s correspondence but in January 2015 she received a letter from its bailiffs demanding payment of £407. She telephoned the bailiffs but says they did not listen to her and ended the call. The bailiffs then attended again and entered her property and she paid the full amount owed.
7. Mrs X made a subject access request for any information held by the bailiffs about her case in 2018. She says she did not receive the paperwork required and wants them to refund her payment.
8. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. The events Mrs X complains about took place more than five years before her referral to the Ombudsman; her complaint is therefore some four years late. The issue of Mrs X not receiving the Council’s correspondence about the unpaid PCN is also a matter which Mrs X could reasonably have put to the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) at Northampton County Court as part of an application to file a late witness statement/statutory declaration.
9. I have seen nothing to suggest it would not have been reasonable for Mrs X to complain to us sooner, or to put the matter to the TEC, and I will not therefore exercise our discretion to investigate her complaint.
10. If Mrs X wishes to pursue the matter she may wish to speak to the TEC about making an application now.

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Final decision

11. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint is late and it would have been reasonable for Mrs X to apply to the TEC to make a late witness statement/statutory declaration.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman