Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s enforcement of a vehicle penalty charge. We will not investigate as the Council has cancelled the charge and is to refund Mr X’s payment. It is unlikely we can add to this.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s enforcement of a penalty charge he incurred for driving in an Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). Mr X says he had paid the fine.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered what Mr X said in his complaint and I have sent him my draft decision on it for his comments. I have considered any comments made in reaching this final decision.

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What I found

4. Mr X was issued with two penalties for driving in a ULEZ. Mr X considers he paid the fines and that the Council was therefore wrong to pursue enforcement action against him on one of them, when it said it was unpaid.
5. The Council says by the time Mr X made payments, the charges had increased to £320 (ie two charges of £160). Mr X however only sent payment of £160 which was applied to one of the penalties and cleared that charge. The second charge remained outstanding and so enforcement action was progressed.
6. The Council acknowledges however that it should have contacted Mr X when he made payment to explain it only covered one charge. It also says that it had two further opportunities to take corrective action following further contact from Mr X and that it did not respond to a complaint he made. In recognition of this, the Council has cancelled both charges and is to refund the money Mr X has paid.

Analysis

7. The Council has explained what happened and has taken action to mitigate fault in the way it dealt with the charges. It is unlikely we can add to this or change the outcome and so we will not investigate.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint because we cannot add to what the Council has said or change the outcome of the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman