Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a penalty charge notice. This is because it would be reasonable for Mrs X to apply to the Traffic Enforcement Centre at Northampton County Court to take the process back to an earlier stage.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about a penalty charge notice (PCN) issued by the Council. She also complains the Council failed to respond to her informal challenge and escalated the case without her knowledge.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
4. The Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) is part of Northampton County Court. It considers applications from local authorities to pursue payment of unpaid PCNs and from motorists to challenge local authorities’ pursuit of unpaid PCNs.
5. 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)
6. London Tribunals considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. There is a set procedure councils must follow when pursuing PCNs for parking contraventions and handling appeals against them. When a council issues a PCN the motorist has 28 days to pay the penalty charge or appeal; appeals at this stage are known as ‘informal challenges’.
9. If the motorist submits an informal challenge to a PCN and the Council decides not to accept them, it will write to the motorist and explain why. If the motorist accepts the Council’s reasons they may pay the PCN; if not, they may wait for a ‘notice to owner’. This provides a further opportunity for the owner of the vehicle to pay the charge or make ‘formal representations’ against the PCN. If the council rejects the motorist’s formal representations the motorist may appeal to London Tribunals.
10. If the motorist does not pay or make formal representations the council will issue a charge certificate, increasing the amount payable by 50%. It may then apply to the TEC to register the debt, before instructing enforcement agents (bailiffs) to recover it.
11. Because Mrs X did not receive the notice to owner she may apply to the TEC to challenge the Council’s escalation of the case. She can do this by making an application to file a witness statement ‘out of time’.
12. If the TEC accepts Mrs X’s application it may order the Council to take the process back to an earlier stage, reinstating her right of appeal and removing any additional charges from the amount owed. If the TEC refuses Mrs X’s application she may apply for a review.
13. The witness statement process has been specifically designed to deal with issues such as the one Mrs X describes and it is relatively easy to follow. I have seen nothing to show it would be unreasonable to expect Mrs X to use the process so I will not exercise our discretion to investigate the matter further.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it would be reasonable for Mrs X to apply to the TEC to make a late witness statement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman