Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice. There is not a good reason for the delay in Mrs X bringing the matter to the Ombudsman. In any event, she had the right to challenge the matter via the statutory appeals process and through submitting a witness statement to the Traffic Enforcement Centre. It is open to her to submit an out of time witness statement.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council wrongly pursued her for an unpaid Penalty Charge Notice (PCN). She says she had in fact paid, but she had accidentally made the payment against a previous PCN. She says she tried to raise the matter with the Council’s enforcement team but did not receive a response. Mrs X says the matter has caused her a financial detriment as she paid enforcement agents £514. She says it also caused her distress. She wants the Council to refund her.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review 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 use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), 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 considered information provided by the complainant.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mrs X received a PCN in April 2022. She says she paid the fine online, then received further communication from the Council saying she had not paid.
8. Mrs X says she then realised she had accidentally paid against an earlier PCN, and told the Council about her mistake. She says the Council did not respond, and instead instructed enforcement agents. She paid the enforcement agents to avoid further charges.
9. The law says people must bring complaints to us within 12 months of becoming aware of the matter. The Council’s further correspondence to Mrs X which claimed she had not paid would have been in mid-2022. While subsequent enforcement action may have occurred at a later date, possibly within the 12 months before Mrs X complained to us, I am satisfied she could have brought the matter to us much sooner, in mid-2022.
10. We would not usually investigate a complaint where someone has a statutory right of appeal. London Tribunals would have been the adjudicator that could have considered Mrs X’s appeal against the PCN. As Mrs X says the Council did not respond to her, it is possible she was denied her right of appeal. However, an automatic email reply Ms X has provided indicates she emailed the Council’s parking enforcement team. This made clear that email address was only for requests for parking enforcement. She indicates she wrote to the Council too. I have not requested further information to decide whether she submitted an appeal correctly and whether the Council failed to respond. This is because we will not investigate the matter now in any event, given the delay in Mrs X bringing the matter to the Ombudsman.
11. We could not say there is fault in the Council instructing enforcement agents, even if this falls within the 12 months before Mrs X complained to us. This is because the Council is entitled to enforce against PCNs that remain unpaid and not appealed. In any event, Mrs X would have had further opportunities to challenge before enforcement agents were instructed, as she could have submitted a witness statement to the Traffic Enforcement Centre, part of Northampton County Court, either on the basis that she had already paid the penalty or that the Council had not responded to her appeal. It is open to Mrs X to contact the Traffic Enforcement Centre for permission to file a witness statement out of time. Should this be successful, it will revert the PCN to a previous stage and reinstate Mrs X’s right to appeal or pay the PCN. There is not a good reason for us to consider the matter instead.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not a good reason for the delay in her bringing the matter to us, and she has the option of filing an out of time witness statement to the Traffic Enforcement Centre.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman