Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a penalty charge notice. This is because Miss X had the right to appeal to a tribunal, and it is reasonable to expect her to have used this.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council refused her informal challenge against a parking penalty charge notice (PCN). Miss X has ADHD and says she panicked when she received the Notice to Owner because she did not fully understand the Notice and was concerned about possible legal action against her. She says she paid the PCN because of this.
2. Miss X complains about the Council’s subsequent handling of her complaint. She says the Council initially acknowledged the signage at the car park was confusing. Miss X would like the Council to refund the £25 and to admit the signage was confusing.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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)
5. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for all areas of England outside London.
6. 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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. A motorist may pay a PCN to cancel it. Or, the motorist may follow the statutory representations and appeals process to challenge a PCN. This involves the motorist making formal representations to the local authority after receiving a Notice to Owner. If the local authority rejects these representations, the motorist may put in an appeal to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (for authorities outside London).
10. The Tribunal is independent and has the power to cancel a PCN. The process is free to use and relatively straightforward. We generally expect motorists to use this process if they consider a PCN was wrongly issued.
11. I recognise Miss X remains unhappy about the PCN, but she had the right to challenge it via the statutory appeal process that was available to her, ultimately to the independent Traffic Penalty Tribunal. I have considered the reasons why Miss X would find the appeals process difficult. But, I have seen no reasons to suggest it would be unreasonable to expect her to have followed this process. We are not another level of appeal and cannot make the decisions of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. The Tribunal is best placed to consider the dispute about the PCN. We will not investigate this complaint.
12. After the Council refused Miss X’s informal representations against the PCN, Miss X paid the PCN at the discounted rate of £25. During the complaints process, Miss X explained to the Council how her ADHD, which may be considered a disability under the Equality Act 2010, affected her decision to pay the PCN. She also said she found the information about the appeals process confusing. The Council offered to refund the £25 she had paid and reopen Miss X’s PCN so that she could make formal representations and continue with the statutory process. It explained that, in doing so, Miss X would miss out on the opportunity to pay at the discounted rate. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. The Council considered the potential barriers Miss X experienced and what action, if any, it could take to address these.
13. It is not a proportionate use of our limited resources to investigate the Council’s complaint handling alone when we are not looking at the underlying matters.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate this complaint about a penalty charge notice. This is because Miss X had the right to appeal to a tribunal, and it is reasonable to expect her to have used this.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman