The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about payment of a Penalty Charge Notice. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
The complaint
Mr Y complains the Council pursuing him for not paying his Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) in full, despite him sending them cheques to pay the PCN off in increments.
Mr Y says the amount has now increased and he has had to agree a payment plan with the Council to pay the larger amount. He is also frustrated as he had tried to pay the PCN in instalments before the amount increased.
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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information Mr Y and the Council provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council issued a PCN to Mr Y in October 2020. Mr Y appealed, but the Council rejected his appeals in October and again in January 2021. Mr Y then says he sent five cheques to the Council, each for £22, with dates to allow him to spread the payments out. Mr Y says he sent the cheques using recorded delivery, and the envelope was signed for. The Council cashed the first cheque for £22. Mr Y says this means the Council accepted the payment arrangement of £22 at each interval to complete payment of £110.
The Council says it only received two cheques from Mr Y in total, meaning he only paid £44 of the penalty. It says although the envelope Mr Y sent was signed for, this does not confirm what was within the envelope. It says it only became aware Mr Y had tried to send any other cheques after he wrote to them in June. Mr Y had complained after receiving a Charge Certificate for the remaining part of the penalty which remained outstanding, with an additional cost of £55 being added for the issuing of the Charge Certificate.
In response to Mr Y’s complaint, the Council offered, as a gesture of goodwill to remove the surcharge of £55 and allow him to pay the remaining amount of £66 within the following 10 days.
As the Council did not receive the outstanding payment, it registered the debt with the Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC), which forms part of Northampton County Court. A Notice of Enforcement was then sent to Mr Y in October 2021. Mr Y then complained again to the Council in March 2022 and approached us.
Analysis When Mr Y paid part of the penalty payment, he turned down his right to appeal further and admitted liability for the PCN and the penalty attached. This means he effectively agreed that he owed the Council £110 at that stage.
While I cannot say whether there were five cheques in the envelope Mr Y sent to the Council or not, both parties agree only two cheques were cashed by the Council.
As it was the Council who was owed the money, it is the Council who can decide how it wants the money to be paid back and when. It does not have to accept the arrangement a person may prefer or suggest. In this instance however, the Council says it did not receive the further cheques from Mr Y and had not accepted a payment plan.
The correspondence shows the Council offered Mr Y ten days in which to pay the remaining amount of £66. It warned him that if he did not, it would continue with the enforcement process. The Council therefore set out the terms in which it expected Mr Y to pay and the action it would take if these terms were not met.
Mr Y did not pay and so the Council took the action it said it would. This has included further costs, which Mr Y is now paying in instalments as agreed with the Council.
It is unlikely we would find fault for this as the Council warned Mr Y of its intentions if he did not pay and then took the action when payment was not received. As there is not enough evidence of fault, we cannot justify investigating this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman