The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s enforcement agents sending correspondence to a different family member concerning recovery of a traffic penalty in 2022. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.
The complaint
Miss X complained about enforcement agents employed by the Council to recover an unpaid parking penalty which was issued in 2021. She says the agents disclosed the details of the penalty to her mother in a letter in 2022. She says this was a beach of data protection regulations. She wants the agents to refund the money she paid for the penalty and recovery costs.
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered the information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X says enforcement agents appointed by the Council wrote to her mother in 2022 confirming that payment for a parking penalty had been received. She says the car is registered to herself at the DVLA and that the agents should have had the correct name on the correspondence. She has sent a copy of a letter with her own names reversed by the agents in November 2022 as well as one with the correct name as evidence.
We will not investigate this complaint which concerns matters which Miss X was aware of more than 12 months before she complained to us. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wish to complain about, not when they first complained. There is no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have complained to us sooner.
Miss X could have complained to the Information Commissioner at the time because this is the body which investigates complaints about data protection breaches.
Final decision
We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s enforcement agents sending correspondence to a different family member concerning recovery of a traffic penalty in 2022. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have complained to us sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman