The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to prevent flooding from a stream next to the public highway. There is no evidence to suggest that Mrs X could not have complained to us sooner.
The complaint
Mrs X complained about the Council’s failure to prevent her home being flooded by a stream which overflowed in 2013 and again in January 2021. She says her home was damaged and that it has resulted in more expensive home insurance premiums.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended) 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.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs x says her home was flooded in 2013 and January 2021 when a stream which runs alongside the public highway overflowed and ran into her property. She says the Council has been negligent because it has not devised a suitable drainage scheme to prevent this. She complained to the parish council in 2020 but the Council has not taken sufficient action.
The Council fitted an alarm to the monitoring level of the stream so that when it rose above a certain level its officers would be alerted. This was so that they could check a trash screen fitted to prevent rubbish from blocking the highway drainage pipes. If the screen became blocked with debris this could cause higher levels. The Council advised Mrs X that this would not prevent the stream from overflowing in exceptional rainfall conditions.
Mrs X has been aware of the problems caused by the stream since 2013 and her last flooding was over 12 months ago. It was reasonable for her to complain to the Council and to us earlier. There is no evidence to suggest that Mrs X could not have complained to us sooner.
Had Mrs X complained about the matter within 12 months we would not have been able to investigate a complaint about damage caused by a claim of negligence. These are private matters which can only be determined by insurers or the courts.
Final decision
We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to prevent flooding from a stream next to the public highway. There is no evidence to suggest that Mrs X could not have complained to us sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman