The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint that the Council is charging her for a replacement bin after her bin was damaged by refuse collectors. This is because Mrs B has not suffered a serious or significant injustice which would justify an investigation.
The complaint
Mrs B says her wheelie bin was damaged by refuse collectors when it was emptied. Mrs B complains the Council says she must pay for a replacement bin and has wrongly said the damage was due to wear and tear. Mrs B says there were no signs of damage before this collection. Mrs B would like the Council to replace her bin at no cost.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate 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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mrs B and information on the Council’s website about replacement wheelie bins.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council’s policy is to charge a resident for a new bin if their bin is damaged during normal use. The Council is allowed to do this.
There is a disagreement between Mrs B and the Council about whether her bin was damaged during normal use.
The Council says damage to the lid is likely due to age, weather conditions and wear and tear. The Council says bins become brittle over time and this type of damage is not caused by the emptying process.
Mrs B disagrees and says the bin showed no signs of damage before this collection.
The Council’s comments about the likely cause of the damage to Mrs B’s bin are not unreasonable.
We could start an investigation into the likely cause of the damage to Mrs B’s bin, but I find an investigation is not justified.
An investigation may not help us establish the cause of the damage.
But in any case, the £35 charge for a replacement standard bin is relatively modest. So, Mrs B has not suffered a serious or significant injustice which would justify public money being spent on an investigation by the Ombudsman.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because she has not suffered a serious or significant injustice which would justify an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman