The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council using enforcement agents to pursue Mrs X for unpaid traffic penalties. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Mrs X says she was contacted by enforcement agents for traffic penalties which she says she was unaware of. She has incurred additional costs because the notices were issued to an address which she left five years ago. She says she changed the address on her driving licence at the time and the costs should be removed.
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: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or 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.
My assessment
Mrs X was contacted by enforcement agents in 2022 concerning six unpaid traffic penalties which amounted to over £760 including costs. She says she was unaware of the penalties and had not been contacted by the Council since they were issued in 2021.
She discovered that the penalties were issued to an address which she had not lived at for five years. The Council told her that the penalties were issued to the address provided by the DVLA which was still registered as her current address. Mrs X says she updated her driving licence to her new address when she moved. The Council explained that it has no access to driving licence personal data and relies on the DVLA information for the vehicle’s registered keeper. Mrs X had not updated her car’s V5C document to her new address so all correspondence was sent to the old address.
The Council followed the civil enforcement procedure under the Traffic Management Act 2004 used by most councils in England. Mrs X wanted to make a formal complaint but this procedure is not available for penalties issued under the traffic enforcement system.
There was no fault in the Council’s actions and it is necessary for Mrs X to seek an arrangement with the enforcement agents to pay the remaining penalty charges.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint about the Council using enforcement agents to pursue Mrs X for unpaid traffic penalties. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman