The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council issuing him penalty charge notices for a vehicle which is not his. This is because the Council has taken action to correct the fault, and it is unlikely further investigation would achieve anything more for Mr X.
The complaint
Mr X complained that the Council was repeatedly sending him Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) for a car which did not belong to him. This caused him to spend time challenging the errors through the appeals process.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council issued Mr X four PCNs which were clearly not related to him or his car. Mr X appealed against each PCN successfully through the initial stages of the appeals process and the Council cancelled the PCNs.
The Council says it has now identified the reason for the PCNs, which were the result of an internal error, and has delivered training internally to prevent PCNs being incorrectly issued in future. Since that time, the Council has not issued further PCNs to Mr X.
I appreciate that having to appeal against multiple PCNs was frustrating for Mr X, but I am satisfied the Council’s actions provide a suitable remedy for the complaint. It is therefore unlikely further investigation would achieve anything more for him.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Council has taken sufficient action to identify the cause of its error and remedy the complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman