The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about his failed payment for a penalty charge notice. This is because the injustice he claims is not significant enough to warrant investigation.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, complains he made payment at the discounted rate of £65 for a penalty charge notice (PCN) but the Council failed to claim the payment. It then escalated the case and issued Mr X a charge certificate and Mr X had to pay a higher rate of £195 to stop any further action.
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 effect 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 the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We do not investigate all the complaints we receive. In deciding whether to investigate we need to consider various tests. These include the alleged injustice to the person complaining. We only investigate the most serious complaints.
I understand Mr X is frustrated by what happened and says he did everything he could to make sure he paid the PCN in time but the difference between the discounted rate and the amount Mr X paid- £130- is not significant enough to warrant investigation.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the injustice Mr X claims is not significant enough to warrant investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman