Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council handled Mr X’s permit refund. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed properly to process parking permit refunds. He says this has caused him injustice because the Council charged an admin fee for processing the refund. Mr X would like the Council to pay back the admin fee and compensation for the time and trouble to him.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), section 34(B))

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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. Mr X paid for an annual parking permit online. The Council then collected three monthly payments by Direct Debit which Mr X questioned.
6. The Council agreed to provide a refund and deducted an admin fee for each payment refunded totaling £15. Mr X complained to the Council about the deductions made.
7. In its response to Mr X, the Council referred to its terms and conditions for permit purchases and explained how refunds were processed. It said Mr X was responsible for cancelling any auto renewal on payments.
8. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council followed its process for refunds and explained the reason for deducting an admin fee which are set out in its terms and conditions that Mr X agreed to when he set up the auto renewal.
9. In addition, the law means we can choose only to investigate a complaint where the person has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures by the body complained about. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman