The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a personal injury claim as this is a matter for the courts.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council has rejected his claim for damage to his wheelchair and injury to himself after he says his wheelchair was flipped over with him in it. Mr X wants the Council to take his claim seriously.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) 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
We cannot determine damage claims as such matters can only be decided in court. There is a relatively simple, low-cost procedure open to Mr X to make such a money claim in court himself, or he could seek legal help from a solicitor, some of whom take on cases on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis. I consider it is reasonable to expect Mr X to take such action for the compensation he seeks.
We will not investigate given this and as we can achieve no other meaningful outcome by doing so. The Council has considered Mr X's claim and whether it was right to reject it can now only be determined by the courts.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because his damage claim is a matter for the courts and not something that we can determine.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman