Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Mr X’s claim for compensation for damage caused to his caravan as the complaint is made late and we cannot achieve the outcome he seeks.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council damaged his caravan when it seized it in 2010. Mr X complained the Council has failed to fully compensate him for this since then.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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 we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or

there is another body better placed to consider this complaint (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

4. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The Council’s letter to Mr X of June 2024, which Mr X sent to us, indicates that the Council’s insurers paid Mr X a sum of money prior to 2019 which Mr X considered did not reflect the true value of his caravan. Mr X wrote to the Council about this in 2019.
8. This indicates that Mr X was aware of the issue he complains to us about now, in 2019 at the latest. Mr X’s complaint is made late to us therefore, as he did not complain to us within a year of him knowing about the problem. We can investigate late complaints if we consider there are good reasons to do so. While I recognise Mr X has some health issues which may have impacted on the speed of his complaining to us, I consider that as Mr X’s complaint is five years old at least, there are not good reasons for us to investigate now.
9. In addition, we cannot achieve what Mr X wants or any other meaningful outcome. We cannot determine damage claims or decide whether the Council should pay Mr X compensation. Ultimately, these are matters only a court can decide.
10. For these reasons, we will not investigate Mr X’s complaint.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is made late and we cannot achieve the outcome he seeks.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman