The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the removal and destruction of the complainant's vehicle as we cannot provide the outcome he seeks as this is a matter for the courts.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council wrongly removed and destroyed his vehicle and its settlement offer is not sufficient to cover his losses and the value of his vehicle.
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) 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 or continue an investigation if we decide there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council says that it admitted liability for the claim and offered Mr X an amount in settlement of it, after obtaining a valuation of the vehicle.
I recognise that Mr X considers the amount that has been offered to be insufficient, however we will not investigate as ultimately this matter can only be decided in court. We are not empowered to determine such claims and there is a relatively simple, low-cost procedure open to anyone to make a money claim in court. It is reasonable to expect Mr X therefore to take such action, either directly or via his insurers.
As the Council has admitted liability, we will not investigate the circumstances around the vehicle being seized by it as this would not be a good use of our limited resources.
For these reasons, we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because ultimately this matter can only be decided in court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman