Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a parking penalty charge notice as it is reasonable to expect the complainant to have appealed against it using the appeal process open to him.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council wrongly issued him with a parking penalty charge notice (PCN) for not paying to park. Mr X says he did pay but the machine did not issue a ticket. Mr X paid the £25 PCN to avoid escalation but now seeks a refund.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Parliament has provided an appeal procedure, ultimately to independent parking adjudicators at the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT), that Mr X could have used to challenge the PCN. I note that Mr X says he did not appeal as he was abroad but I do not consider this precluded him from making an appeal and I consider it was reasonable for him to have done so. We will not therefore investigate. That Mr X chose to pay the PCN at the discounted rate does not affect this view.
6. Additionally, while I recognise Mr X is unhappy about paying £25, this would not in general represent a level of injustice that would justify our further involvement. We have limited resources and must direct them to the most serious cases. This is not such a case.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect him to have appealed the PCN using the statutory appeal process available to him.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman