Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s alleged failure to send Mr X’s parking contravention notice to the correct address. This is because Mr X has right of appeal to the traffic enforcement centre and it would be reasonable for him to use it.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained that the Council sent a parking contravention notice to the wrong address and later forced him to pay an increased fee.

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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. London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.
4. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for all areas of England outside London.
5. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. We may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court but cannot investigate if the person has already been to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended).

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mr X complained to the Council after an enforcement agent contacted him at his home regarding a parking contravention notice (PCN). Mr X said he felt forced to pay the increased charge, but he should have been allowed to pay a lesser fee as he did not receive the initial PCN due to his tenants neglecting to forward it to him.
9. The Council did not uphold Mr X’s complaint. The Council said it had sent the PCN to Mr X’s DVLA registered address and as Mr X had since paid the charge he had accepted liability and lost the right to challenge the notice.
10. Mr X has brought the complaint to the Ombudsman because he remains unhappy with the Council’s actions. The Ombudsman will not investigate complaints where the complainant has right of appeal to a more appropriate body. In this case, Mr X had right of appeal to the traffic enforcement centre (TEC) on the grounds that he did not receive the original notice. It would therefore be reasonable for Mr X to use it.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because Mr X has right of appeal to the traffic enforcement centre and it would be reasonable for him to use it.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman