The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a parking permit refund. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
The complaint
Mr Y complains that the Council has refused to refund him for a parking permit in his girlfriend’s name after he sold his car. Mr Y says this means he has spent approximately £100 for a parking permit he no longer uses which he does not consider as being reasonable.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information Mr Y provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr Y’s girlfriend (Miss A) contacted the Council asking for a refund of a resident’s parking permit after Mr Y sold his car. When Mr Y had purchased the parking permit, he had registered it with the Council in Miss A’s name despite Mr Y owning the car.
The Council responded to Miss A’s request for a refund in January 2022. It said it had reviewed the documents and had seen that Mr Y was the registered keeper of the vehicle and so Miss A was not eligible to have a parking permit. It explained that to be eligible for a parking permit, Miss A would have needed to be the registered owner of the vehicle the permit was applied for. It further said that this amounted to a breach in the terms and conditions of the parking permit, meaning that no refund would be due.
Mr Y then complained to the Council, explaining that it had been an error at the time Mr Y had purchased the permit. The Council responded further in March. It said the terms and conditions Mr Y had agreed to when purchasing the permit had said where the terms were breached, a refund would not be due. It referred Mr Y to a copy of the terms and conditions available on its website and refused the refund of approximately £100. Mr Y then approached us.
Analysis Under the terms and conditions, as available on the Council’s website, to be eligible for a resident parking permit a person must live in the borough and the vehicle must be registered with the DVLA “in your name”. In this instance, albeit that it was a genuine error, the permit was purchased in Miss A’s name and the vehicle was registered in a different name, Mr Y’s. This would amount to a breach of the terms.
Under the terms the Council confirm that failure to follow the terms may result in the “cancellation of your permit without refund”. Consequently, as there has been a breach of the terms, under these terms, the Council is not obliged to refund any payment he has made for the permit.
As the Council has followed the terms of the agreement in refusing the refund to Mr Y, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman