Summary: Mr & Mrs F complained that an enforcement agent visited their property in relation to a parking charge without notice and threatened Mr F. We have ended our investigation. This is because Mr F has taken court action and the law says we cannot investigate a complaint if someone has started court action about the same matter.

The complaint

1. Mr & Mrs F complained an enforcement agent visited their property in relation to a parking charge without notice and threatened Mr F. They also complained that the Council had refused to deal with their complaint.
2. Mr F says the incident caused his mental health to deteriorate and he now requires mental health support.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
5. The courts have said that where someone has sought a remedy by way of proceedings in any court of law, we cannot investigate. This is the case even if the appeal did not or could not provide a complete remedy for all the injustice claimed. (R v The Commissioner for Local Administration ex parte PH (1999) EHCA Civ 916)
6. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
7. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

8. I spoke to Mr F about the complaint and considered the information he and the Council sent.
9. Mr & Mrs F and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Relevant law and guidance

10. There is a procedure that councils must follow when pursuing a penalty charge notice (PCN) for a parking contravention and for handling appeals against them. If the council issues a PCN and the motorist does not pay, the council can take action to recover the debt.
11. Councils can register it as a debt with the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) at the County Court. If the debt remains unpaid and the motorist either does not appeal to the TEC or the TEC turns the appeal down, the council can apply for a warrant or liability order which it can pass to an enforcement agency to recover the amount owing.

The bailiff process

12. Certified enforcement agents (“bailiffs”) are appointed under Part 3 of the Tribunal, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007. In summary, the process for bailiffs is:
• a court grants an order to the council which allows the bailiff to take action;
• the bailiff may try to contact the debtor by letter to get payment of the debt in full or by instalments; and
• if this is unsuccessful, the bailiff will visit intending to seize goods to sell in order to meet the debt and associated costs.
13. Before taking control of goods a bailiff must issue a notice of enforcement on the debtor seven clear days before. If the bailiff intends to seize a vehicle, they will place a notice of enforcement on the vehicle, inviting the complainant to contact the bailiff to arrange payment of a debt.
14. The Taking Control of Goods National Standards set out the standards of professionalism and conduct that bailiffs and enforcement agencies should follow.

Complaints about bailiffs

15. As bailiffs work on behalf of a council, the authority is ultimately responsible for their actions. The employing enforcement agency may initially deal with a complaint itself. But we expect councils to deal with the complaint at the final stage of the complaint process.
16. CIVEA (the trade association for enforcement agencies) cannot consider complaints about enforcement agents if the debt originates from a council or Transport for London.
17. A bailiff may be directly employed by a council or work for a private firm which the council has contracted to provide services for debt recovery. Either way, in relation to PCNs, the bailiff is acting for the council and so the matter is within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
18. The County Court can resolve certain disputes about an enforcement agent’s actions. This includes complaints about the fitness of a bailiff to hold a certificate (i.e. be able to work) due to concerns about an alleged breach of the law or allegation of misbehaviour by the bailiff. The civil procedure rules set out a procedure the debtor can follow.

What happened

19. The Council had issued two PCNs and the court had issued warrants of control in relation to charges for parking contraventions by Mr & Mrs F. An enforcement agency had been engaged to collect the debts. The agency says it issued a statutory notice of enforcement on Mrs F’s PCN on 9 February 2024.
20. A bailiff attended Mr & Mrs F’s property on 20 March 2024 and clamped their vehicle. Mr F called the bailiff. He says the bailiff threatened him and demanded an unnecessarily large payment immediately for the clamp to be removed. This caused his mental health to deteriorate and an ambulance to be called.
21. Mrs F complained to the enforcement agency and to the Council about the behaviour of the bailiff. The enforcement agency responded to the complaint on 16 April. It did not uphold the complaint. The Council refused to investigate; it said complaints about bailiffs were for the enforcement agency and CIVEA.
22. On 26 April Mr F complained to the county court about the agent’s fitness to hold a certificate due to his behaviour on 20 March. They then came to the Ombudsman. The court issued an order on 6 June; it dismissed the complaint.

My findings

23. I have ended my investigation into Mr & Mrs F’s complaint. This is because Mr F applied to the court to challenge the enforcement agent’s right to have a certificate. This puts the complaint outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction because, as set out in paragraphs 4 and 5 above, the law says we cannot investigate if someone has been to court about the same matter.
24. Whilst we would expect the Council to have responded to Mr & Mrs F’s complaint, as the bailiff was working on its behalf, we do not normally investigate how a council considered a complaint where the substantive matter complained about is something we cannot legally consider.

Back to top

Final decision

25. I have discontinued the investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman