Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council mistakenly issuing him five penalty charge notices over a year. This is because any injustice is not significant enough to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council mistakenly issued him five penalty charge notices over the course of a year. He would like compensation for inconvenience, time and trouble, and distress.

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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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X complained the Council mistakenly issued five penalty charge notices. Mr X had to write to the Council each time to have them cancelled. He said this caused frustration, wasted time and distress and he wanted compensation.
6. The Council apologised. It said a system error had caused the issue and took action to resolve it. The Council offered Mr X £25. Mr X confirms he has not received any further penalty charge notices in error. Mr X would like significantly more compensation. We provide remedies for injustice, not compensation, punishment or fines.
7. I acknowledge the frustration this has caused Mr X. However, I do not consider the injustice caused by the Council’s actions to be significant enough to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman. Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because any injustice is not significant enough to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman