Summary: Miss X complained the Council sent her enforcement letters about penalty charge notices when it should not have done. We have not found fault in the Council’s actions. We do not uphold Miss X’s complaint.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council sent her letters relating to enforcement of two penalty charge notices during a period of time when it should not have done. She also says the Council took too long to respond to her complaints about the matter.
2. Miss X says this caused her distress and frustration.

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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. 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)

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What I have and have not investigated

5. My investigation begins when Miss X entered Breathing Space (see below) in May 2024.
6. I am not investigating events leading up to the Breathing Space period.
7. My investigation ends when Miss X registered her complaint with us in February 2025.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I have considered all the information Miss X provided and information sent by the Council.
9. Miss X and the Council had the opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I have taken any comments received into consideration before reaching my final decision.

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What I found

Fines for breaking moving traffic rules

10. If a motorist breaks moving traffic rules, they might receive a fine. This fine is called a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN).
11. The authority (in this case the Council) will send the notice to the person who appears to own the vehicle (usually the registered keeper) by post. The notice will show the fine amount and how to appeal.
12. The motorist has 28 days from the date of the notice to pay the fine or ‘make representations’ against it.
13. If the authority rejects the appeal, the motorist can appeal to the London Tribunals. 
14. The authority can issue a charge certificate which increases the fine by 50% if:

• the fine is not paid;
• the motorist does not appeal against the fine; or
• the appeal is not successful.

15. If the fine is still not paid, the authority can register the debt with the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) at Northampton County Court. The authority can then ask enforcement agents to collect payment for the fine and the bailiff’s costs.
16. Breathing Space
17. Breathing Space is a debt respite scheme. It gives legal protection from creditors taking action against debtors for 60 days.
18. This means that most enforcement action, contact from creditors, interest and charges linked to the debt stop for 60 days.
19. A notification is sent to any creditors to advise Breathing Space has begun and when the period will end.
20. Debt Relief Order
21. A Debt Relief Order (DRO) is a debt relief solution. It can write off certain types of debt, if the order is approved.
22. A DRO lasts 12 months. During this time, payments and interest towards the debt stop. At the end of the 12 months, the debts under the DRO do not have to be paid.

What happened

23. I have set out below a summary of the key events. This is not meant to show everything that happened.
24. The Council issued two PCNs to Miss X late in 2022.
25. Miss X and the Council communicated about the PCNs during 2023 and into 2024. Miss X had not paid the PCNs and so the Council instructed enforcement agents (the agents) to recover costs.
26. By May 2024, the PCNs and related enforcement costs had increased the amount Miss X owed to £793.

Breathing Space

27. Miss X applied for and entered Breathing Space on 23 May 2024. This meant the Council and the agents could not take any action for 60 days.
28. The Council sent Miss X two letters, one for each PCN, both dated 3 July 2024. The letter said Miss X’s application to file a witness statement had been refused by the TEC in June and enforcement action would continue in 14 days’ time.
29. Miss X contacted the Council on 16 July 2024 to say that she had entered Breathing Space on 23 May and it should not be contacting her.
30. The Council responded to Miss X on 17 July 2024. It said it had no record of her entering breathing space and asked her to provide evidence of this. It placed enforcement action on hold for 14 days to allow her to provide the evidence.
31. Miss X’s Breathing Space period ended 22 July. Enforcement action was due to begin again 1 August 2024 as the 14-day period to provide evidence had ended.
32. Miss X complained to the Council at the end of July 2024 and chased for responses in September and October 2024. The Council issued its stage one complaint response in November 2024. After Miss X’s escalation, the Council sent its stage two response at the beginning of December 2024. It signposted Miss X to the Ombudsman if she remained unhappy.
33. Outside of communications with the Council, Miss X had applied for a DRO. Miss X was granted a DRO in December 2024 which wrote off the full debt amount of £793.
34. Miss X continued to correspond with the Council into January 2025. She said she wanted the Council to compensate her to the amount of £793. She said this was because it was the amount it had pursued her for which had caused distress and upset. She brought her complaint to us late in February 2025.

Analysis

Breathing Space

35. In its response to her on 17 July 2024, the Council advised Miss X that it had not received notification she had been placed into Breathing Space and asked her to provide evidence of this. The Council immediately paused any further enforcement action by the agents for 14 days. Her Breathing Space ended during this 14-day period. Enforcement action began again after this time, which the Council was entitled to do.
36. The Council’s stage one complaint response again confirmed it was not aware Miss X had been entered into Breathing Space at the time the period began. It said the agents had not received any notification either.
37. There is no evidence either the Council or its agents received the relevant notification at the time Miss X had been placed into Breathing Space. The Council took immediate and appropriate action to pause matters when Miss X contacted it to query why she was still receiving enforcement notices during the 60 days. Therefore, I am satisfied, that in the circumstances of this complaint, the Council acted appropriately and without fault.

Complaint handling

38. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if there is no fault in the substantive issue.
39. Miss X complained the Council did not respond to her initial complaint correspondence in a timely manner. She did, however, go through and complete the Council’s complaint process by the beginning of December 2024.
40. As there is no fault in the Council’s actions sending enforcement letters during Breathing Space, I am satisfied, on this occasion, it is not proportionate for us to investigate any matters related to complaint handling.

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Final decision

41. I have completed my investigation. I do not uphold this complaint as there is no fault in the Council’s actions.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman