The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council sending penalty charge notices to the wrong address. This is because the Council has agreed to cancel the bailiffs warrant, refund the fees paid and reissue the penalty charge notice. Further investigation is unlikely to achieve anything more.
The complaint
Ms X said the Council sent the penalty charge notice to her old address, so she was unaware resulting in bailiffs attending demanding payment.
When we asked the Council to send us copies of its complaint response, it decided - as a gesture of goodwill, without admitting fault - to cancel the bailiffs warrant, issue a refund and reissue the penalty charge to her new address. The Council says it sent all documents to the address registered with the DVLA.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide: further investigation would not lead to a different outcome (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because we are unlikely to achieve anything more.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman