Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Penalty Charge Notices. This is because it is reasonable to expect Miss Y to appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

The complaint

1. Miss Y complained the Council failed to accept her informal representations against three Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) that her car had been cloned. Miss Y says she was able to provide the Council with a police reference and feels it is unfair that the Council have not accepted this and cancelled the PCN.
2. Miss Y says she is upset and is worried that she doesn’t have the money to pay the penalties and feels it is unfair when she has not committed the contraventions.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for all areas of England outside London.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information Miss Y provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The Council issued three PCNs to Miss Y in September 2022. Miss Y says the car in the pictures does not belong to her and realised her registration plate had been cloned. Miss Y reported this to the police and received a police reference number.
7. Miss Y made informal representations to the Council, including providing the police reference to support her representations. The Council rejected the representations, saying there was not enough evidence to support her view. It referred her to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal if she wished to appeal. Miss Y approached us in October.

Analysis

8. Miss Y has a right to appeal to the PCNs with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal about the same matter. We may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal.
9. However, appealing to the tribunal is often free in the initial stages and reasonable adjustments can be made where necessary for access to the service. Consequently, as Miss Y has not provided any other reason why she cannot, it is reasonable to expect her to use this right to appeal the PCNs. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Miss Y’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect Miss Y to appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman