The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about public transport. This is because the complaint is late with no good reason to investigate it now and the courts are better placed to consider the complaint.
The complaint
Miss Y complained that after she was in a harsh braking accident on a bus in 2019, the Authority has denied having received information from her, despite her having sent information and having responses.
Miss Y says she is now receiving treatment, including from a physiotherapist following the accident and would like her complaint about the accident dealt with and to be compensated.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something an Authority has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended) 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 another body better placed to consider this complaint.(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)) It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information Miss Y provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss Y was injured in an accident on one of the Authority’s buses after it braked sharply in 2019. She complained to the Authority and the bus company in 2019. The bus company, who provided the service on behalf of the Authority, responded confirming that Miss Y’s complaint had been passed to a claims manager in May 2020.
Miss Y then complained to the bus company again in August after she had not had a response to her claim despite having provided the information previously requested. The Authority then responded, explaining that it had written to Miss Y in July 2019, shortly after the incident, asking for details of the claim, which it had chased in October 2019, but had received no response to. Miss Y then approached us in November 2022.
Analysis The law says people should normally complain to us within 12 months of becoming aware of an issue. Complaints brought to the Ombudsman more than 12 months after someone becomes aware of something an Authority has done are considered late. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons.
Ms Y’s was aware of her reason to complain about the Authority’s actions relating to the accident in 2019, more than 12 months ago. She also knew of her reason to complain after she did not receive a response to her claim after it was passed to a claims manager in 2020. Consequently, her complaint is now late.
We have discretion to disapply the rule outlined in paragraph three where we decide there are good reasons. Ms Y has not provided any good reasons why she did not bring her complaint to us within 12 months of knowing about the matter. It is reasonable to expect her to have complained sooner.
Further, Miss Y is making a claim about personal injury. The legislation from which the Ombudsman takes their power also places some restrictions on what we may investigate. One of these concerns negligence claims about damage to property or personal injury. We cannot determine liability claims for negligence. These are legal claims which may only be determined by insurers or the courts.
We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. As we are not investigating the substantive issue, it is not a good use of public resources to investigate how the Authority dealt with Miss Y’s complaint following the accident.
For the reasons explained above, we will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss Y’s complaint because the complaint is late with no good reason to investigate it now and the courts are better placed to consider the complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman