The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a penalty charge notice as it is reasonable to expect Mrs X to have appealed against it to London Tribunals.
The complaint
Mrs X complains about a penalty charge notice (PCN) the Council issued to her for a parking contravention. Mrs X wants the Council to cancel the PCN as she says there were no signs in the area which would have indicated to her she could not park where she did. Mrs X paid the PCN after the Council rejected her representations against it.
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 an appeal process to enable motorists to challenge PCNs which culminates in an appeal hearing by an independent tribunal, London Tribunals. It has the power to decide if a PCN should be cancelled or not. We are not able to do this. As such, it is reasonable to expect Mrs X to have appealed to the Tribunal if she wanted to challenge the PCN rather than paying it, at which point the appeal right was lost. As per paragraph two, we will not therefore investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because she had the right to appeal against the PCN to London Tribunals and it is reasonable for her to have done so.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman