Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about a penalty charge notice. This is because it would be reasonable for Mrs X to apply to the Traffic Enforcement Centre to reinstate her right of appeal.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains about a penalty charge notice (PCN) issued by the Council. She also complains she did not receive a response from the Council to her challenge. She was therefore unaware the Council had decided to pursue the PCN until its enforcement agents (bailiffs) contacted her demanding £158.

Back to top

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. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

4. I reviewed Mrs X’s complaint, shared my draft decision with her and invited her comments.

Back to top

What I found

5. The Council issued Mrs X a PCN for a parking contravention in early 2019.
6. There is a set procedure councils must follow when pursuing PCNs for parking contraventions and handling appeals against them. When a council issues a PCN the motorist has 28 days to pay the penalty charge or appeal; appeals at this stage are known as ‘informal challenges’.
7. If the motorist submits an informal challenge to a PCN and the Council decides not to accept them, it will write to the motorist and explain why. If the motorist accepts the Council’s reasons they may pay the PCN; if not, they may wait for a ‘notice to owner’. This provides a further opportunity for the owner of the vehicle to pay the charge or make ‘formal representations’ against the PCN. If the council rejects the motorist’s formal representations the motorist may appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
8. If the motorist does not pay or make formal representations the council will issue a charge certificate, increasing the amount payable by 50%. It may then apply to the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) at Northampton County Court to register the debt, before instructing bailiffs to recover it.
9. Mrs X disputes the PCN and says the Council’s civil enforcement officer (parking warden) saw her purchasing a ticket before she left her car. She accepts her son placed the ticket upside down on the dashboard but says she will not pay the PCN as she had a valid parking ticket. She is unhappy she did not receive a response to her challenge and that the amount of the PCN has increased.
10. Mrs X’s challenge to the PCN is a matter for the appeals process. Mrs X suggests she did not receive the Council’s notice to owner, charge certificate or the order for recovery and she may therefore apply to the TEC to make a late witness statement. If the TEC accepts Mrs X’s application it can take the process back to an earlier stage, reducing the amount of the PCN and reinstating Mrs X’s right of appeal against it. While the TEC considers Mrs X’s application the Council must put any further recovery action on hold.
11. I have seen nothing to suggest it would not be reasonable for Mrs X to follow the process set out above and I will not therefore exercise the Ombudsman’s discretion to investigate this complaint.

Back to top

Final decision

12. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it would be reasonable for Mrs X to apply to the TEC to make a late witness statement.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman