Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s actions following his vehicle blocking a driveway. This is because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome and we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council will not reimburse him £4337 for a car he bought after he thought his vehicle was stolen. This happened after the Council became involved because of an enforcement issue.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mr X faced an enforcement issue because his car was blocking a driveway. The Council used a contractor to move the vehicle instead of impounding it.
6. The contractor's systems failed, so Mr X didn’t receive a notification about the car being moved.
7. Mr X believed the car was stolen and reported it to the police. His insurance company paid him for the loss.
8. Mr X found out the car had been removed only after he got a Penalty Charge Notice and contacted the Council. By then, he had already used the insurance money and added £4337 of his own to buy a newer car.
9. The Council and its contractor apologised to Mr X for the distress caused. They also explained the changes they’ve made to avoid this happening again. The contractor offered Mr X a £500 remedy payment.
10. Mr X is still unhappy. He believes a fair outcome would be for the Council to repay the £4337 he added to buy the new car.
11. I will not investigate this further because the £500 payment is in line with our guidance and the Council has already taken steps to learn from the complaint so further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. Mr X was able to achieve a remedy for his car being lost via his insurers and we cannot recommend the Council makes a payment to cover the additional cost of Mr X’s decision to buy a more expensive replacement vehicle.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we would further investigation would not lead to a different outcome and we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman