The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about pothole damage as this is ultimately a matter for the courts and the complaint is also made late.
The complaint
Mr X complained his car was damaged by a pothole and the Council refused to pay for the damage caused. Mr X has been impacted financially and wants the Council to pay him compensation.
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 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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We cannot achieve the outcome Mr X wants as we cannot determine if the Council is legally liable for the damage caused to his car and if compensation should be paid. Only the courts can make such decisions and there is a procedure open to anyone to make such a claim in court. As such, it is reasonable to expect Mr X to have resorted to court action for the compensation he seeks.
Additionally, Mr X’s complaint is made late to us ie not within 12 months of him knowing about the problem. Mr X’s car was damaged in February 2022 and it appears he knew the Council refused to accept liability by around mid-2022. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to have complained to us sooner, and within 12 months and so notwithstanding the issue in paragraph seven, there are not good reasons to investigate this late complaint now.
For these reasons, we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because Mr X had the right to take court action for the compensation he seeks, and the complaint is made late.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman