Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council failing to update its records with Mrs X’s new address prior to her receiving a parking charge notice and the conduct of the bailiffs. This is because the law prevents us from investigating matters that have been considered in court. The second part of the complaint is late and there are no good reasons for this.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council failed to update its records with her new address. She said because of this, she was late at paying a parking charge notice (PCN), which was dealt with by bailiffs.
2. Mrs X also complains about the bailiffs’ conduct. She said this has caused her severe financial difficulties and caused her significant distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The courts have said that where someone has sought a remedy by way of proceedings in any court of law, we cannot investigate. This is the case even if the appeal did not or could not provide a complete remedy for all the injustice claimed. (R v The Commissioner for Local Administration ex parte PH (1999) EHCA Civ 916)
4. 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 a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
5. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC). (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. A PCN was created in November 2022. The Council sought Mrs X’s address from the driver and vehicle licensing agency (DVLA) in the same month and later issued the fine. Mrs X did not initially receive this information, as she said she did not update DVLA of her address until January 2023. The Council registered the matter with the TEC to obtain a Charge Certificate.
9. Mrs X submitted an out of time witness statement to the TEC in April 2023, on the basis that she had not received the previous correspondence. If a motorist is successful, the TEC may order the authority to go back to an earlier stage which will reduce the fine and they will not have to pay any bailiff’s costs. It might also give them back their right to appeal.
10. The TEC is part of Northampton County Court. Therefore, as stated in paragraph 3, we cannot investigate this part of the complaint. Mrs X said the Council failed to update her address. But this is not separable to matters considered by the courts.
11. Mrs X also complained about the conduct of the bailiffs. She said she had been raising complaints about this since October 2023. But said she had been given unclear guidance on the complaints process. However, it would have been reasonable for her to have escalated the issues to the Council in 2024. Mrs X could then have escalated the matters to us by the end of 2024.
12. We will not investigate the second part of the complaint as Mrs X was aware of the issues more than 12 months before she complained to us. The complaint is therefore late and there are no good reasons for this.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the law prevents us from investigating matters that have been considered in court. The second part of the complaint is late and there are no good reasons for this.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman