The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to compensate the complainant for property damage. This is because we cannot de termine t he Council ’ s liabi lity .
I t is reasonable to expect the compl ai nant to go to co urt with his claim .
The complaint
Mr X is unhappy with the Council’s insurers denying liability for his costs incurred when he claimed on his home insurance policy.
This was after a neighbouring council owned car park suffered a sink hole which caused movement and cracking to his property.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We will not investigate. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to progress his disagreement with the insurance claim outcome to court to protect his private property interests. There is a simple procedure in the county court for dealing with small claims.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect him to go to court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman