The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about damage to Mr X’s car caused by an unsecured gate during windy weather. This is because t he c ourts are best p laced to calcul a t e cla ims for d amages.
I t is therefore reasonable to expect the compl ai nant to go to co urt to resolve h is c omplaint .
The complaint
Mr X says an unsecure Council gate damaged his car during windy weather conditions.
He says he has been caused a lot of stress when trying to use the Council’s complaints procedure.
He would like the Council to admit liability so he can repair his car. He would also like to be compensated for his time and trouble taken to complain.
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).
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.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council has denied liability and turned down Mr X’s insurance claim.
We will not investigate as it is reasonable to expect Mr X to now take his claim for damages to court. The courts are best placed to decide liability and determine any award of damages.
With respect to the Mr X’s concerns about the problems he has experienced trying to get in contact with complaints officers and so on, we would not normally investigate a complaint about the process if we are not investigating the substantive issue. Further, councils do not normally investigate matters best dealt with in courts through their complaints procedures.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect him to take his claim for damages to court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman