The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a Penalty Charge Notice for the congestion charge. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Authority and because the complainant could have followed the statutory process.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Authority instructed bailiffs for a congestion charge fine incurred when he was not the owner of the car. Mr X wants the Authority to cancel the Penalty Charge Notice (PCN), withdraw the case from the bailiffs, and apologise. Mr X says the Authority has ignored his evidence.
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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)) 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) London Tribunals (previously known as the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service) considers parking and moving traffic offence appeals for London.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Authority. I also considered our Assessment Code and invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.
My assessment
In June 2021 the Authority issued a PCN to Mr X for not paying the congestion charge on 2 June. The Authority sent the PCN to the correct address. The PCN said Mr X could pay or appeal.
The Authority did not hear from Mr X so it issued a charge certificate in July and then registered the fine in court in September. The Authority sent the letters to the correct address. The Authority then asked bailiffs to collect the debt.
Mr X contacted the Authority in April 2022. He said he was not the owner of the car when the contravention occurred and he was not living at the address the Authority wrote to. The Authority invited Mr X to apply to court for a statutory declaration. If the court grants a declaration the court registration is cancelled.
The Authority says it did not hear from Mr X until April and has not been told Mr X has applied for a statutory declaration. In response to my enquiries the Authority said it would contact Mr X to see what evidence he has. Mr X sent us a letter from DVLA, dated May 2022, which said he was not the owner of the car from 23 April 2021.
I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Authority. The Authority followed the correct process and sent all the documents it was required to send. It obtained Mr X’s address from DVLA and the address on the letters is the same as Mr X has provided in his complaint to us. The Authority instructed bailiffs which is the correct process when someone does not pay a PCN. The Authority correctly advised Mr X to apply for a statutory declaration and, despite there being no suggestion of fault, it will contact Mr X to ask what information he has. The Authority could not have been aware of the letter from DVLA before instructing bailiffs because the DVLA did not send the letter to Mr X until May.
I also will not investigate this complaint because Mr X could have followed the statutory process and appealed to the tribunal. Or, if he did not receive any of the letters, he could apply for a statutory declaration. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to do this because this is the process, set-up by parliament, to deal with disputes about PCNs.
Final decision
I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Authority and because Mr X could follow the statutory process.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman