Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Authority’s enforcement agents recovering Mr X’s motor vehicle, following a nonpayment of penalty charge notices. Any complaint about that is now late and I have not seen any good reason why it could not have been made sooner. Additionally, the injustice to Mr X, caused by him not immediately receiving money he was due, after his vehicle was sold, has already been adequately remedied by the Authority. There are no wider public interest issues remaining to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X said enforcement agents (EA’s) acting on behalf of the Authority should not have recovered his motor vehicle because he had already paid money to the Authority as part of an agreed payment plan. Additionally, he said the agreed payment plan amounted to more than the cost of the penalty charge notices (PCN’s). Mr X said he has lost out financially.

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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 an authority has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an authority has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Authority.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X said the EA’s were wrong to have recovered his motor vehicle after he had made payments to the Authority in line with an agreed payment plan for outstanding PCN’s. The Authority responded to Mr X saying the recovery action was for outstanding PCN’s incurred after it agreed a payment plan.
7. We will not investigate a complaint about this because these events occurred in 2022, and EA’s recovered Mr X’s motor vehicle, and sold it in an auction in 2023. Therefore, a complaint about these actions is late and I have not seen any good reason why it could not have been made sooner.
8. However, the Council accepted Mr X had not been sent all the money he was due following the sale of his vehicle. It offered to pay Mr X this money and apologised. It also agreed to reimburse the additional costs Mr X had incurred with nonpayment of outstanding PCN’s. Collectively this is an adequate remedy for Mr X’s injustice and therefore I won’t investigate a complaint about this matter either.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider it. Additionally any injustice caused to Mr X by delays in reimbursing him money he was due, has now been remedied by the Authority.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman