Transport for London (23 007 196)
Category : Transport and highways > Public transport
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 24 Sep 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about delays to her journey and additional costs incurred. This is because the injustice is not significant enough to warrant an investigation.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Ms X, complained her journey using Transport for London (TfL) services was disrupted due to a service failure. Ms X says TfL staff told her there were no westbound services operating and so she paid £25 for an alternative. But in its complaint response TfL said Ms X could have used a different underground service to complete her journey. Ms X wants the £25 refunding.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- We will generally only investigate a complaint if the person complaining has been caused a significant personal injustice. While I understand Ms X’s frustrations, the injustice at the heart of her complaint is not significant enough to warrant our involvement. We will not therefore start an investigation into Ms X’s complaint.
- Ms X is also unhappy with how TfL dealt with her complaint. But we will not investigate complaint handling if we are not going to look at the original issue which led to the complaint. This applies here.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because she has not been caused a significant personal injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman