The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a penalty charge notice as Mr X could reasonably have appealed against it to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council issued him with a penalty charge notice (PCN) despite him having bought a ticket to allow him to park. As such, Mr X seeks a refund of the money he has paid.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Parliament has provided a statutory appeal procedure which Mr X could have used to challenge the PCN, culminating in an appeal to an independent tribunal, the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to have done this and so we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he had a statutory appeal right against the PCN which he could have reasonably used.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman