The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about liability for damage to Mr X’s motor vehicle. This is because Mr X has an alternative legal remedy through the courts and because we cannot decide liability, or direct the Council to accept liability, it would be reasonable to expect Mr X to use his legal remedy.
The complaint
Mr X said because he was providing a transport service to the Council, it was liable to re-imburse him the expense of the damage, during that time. Mr X said this caused him financial loss.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has an alternative legal which is reasonable to expect him to use, because we could not decide liability, nor direct the Council to accept liability, if it does not believe it is liable.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman