Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Penalty Charge Notices because we are satisfied with the actions the Council has taken.

The complaint

1. Mrs Y complained the Council did not respond to her correspondence about a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN). Mrs Y says this led to her car being clamped by enforcement agents, causing her upset and worry.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information Mrs Y and the Council provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. The Council issued two PCNs to Mrs Y. However, confusion occurred when Mrs Y paid one PCN, not realising that there were two PCNs. Mrs Y says the Council did not respond to her correspondence about a technical issue which meant that while she had paid one of the PCNs, costing her £65, the other PCN had progressed, while the Council was unable to locate her payment from the first PCN. Mrs Y says she was later contacted by enforcement agents who clamped her vehicle and was asked to pay again, albeit this was in fact for the second, unpaid PCN.
5. Mrs Y says the communication with the Council was poor and she did not receive various letters relating the PCNs or their enforcement. This may have added to the confusion. Mrs Y says she contacted the Council about the matter, but the Council seemed unable to help, with various contrary records being available. She then approached us.
6. The Council agreed in its final response that its officers had failed to properly investigate the issues Mrs Y had experienced with the Council’s computer systems and that it should have acted to identify where the payment had gone.
7. The Council apologised for this and agreed to update its internal training to staff to prevent the issue from happening again. It also agreed to change some of its processes for when payments go missing. In its initial response, the Council also reduced the PCN from £515 to £65, which Mrs Y paid, but in its final response it agreed to refund this payment to her.
8. This means that Mrs Y has paid one of the PCNs but is not expected to pay for the other and will have the payment taken for this returned to her. Our role, where we find fault, is to make a recommendation to put a person back into the position they would have been in had the fault not occurred. In this case, the Council has sought to do this by refunding the payment for the PCN, which it had reduced, apologising and putting in steps to try to prevent the fault from recurring. Consequently, as this is in line with our own guidance on remedies, we are satisfied with the actions the Council has taken and will therefore not investigate.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint because we are satisfied with the actions the Council has taken.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman