The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about damage caused to his driveway by the Council’s contracted waste collection service. This is because it is reasonable for Mr X to take the matter to court.
The complaint
Mr X complained about: damage to his drive caused by the Council’s waste collection service; and the Council’s poor investigation and complaints handling regarding the matter.
Mr X said the matter caused him time and trouble and impacted him financially.
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 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 the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about damage caused to his driveway by the Council’s contracted waste collection service.
The role of the Ombudsman is to consider complaints of administrative fault. We cannot decide liability in complaints about damage to property, only the courts can do this. Mr X submitted a claim to the relevant insurers but says he has not received a response. It is now open to Mr X to take the matter to court. It is reasonable to expect him to do so as the Ombudsman cannot achieve the outcome he seeks.
Mr X also complained about how the Council responded to him regarding the claim and about its complaints handling. 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. Consequently, we will not investigate this matter.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect him to take the matter to court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman