Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of two penalty charge notices. This is because it would be reasonable for Mr X to take the matter to the Traffic Enforcement Centre at Northampton County Court.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council issued him two penalty charge notices (PCNs) but sent them to the wrong address. It has now passed the cases to enforcement agents (bailiffs) who he says have been rude and unhelpful.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)
4. The Traffic Enforcement Centre (TEC) is part of Northampton County Court. It considers applications from local authorities to pursue payment of unpaid PCNs and from motorists to challenge local authorities’ pursuit of unpaid PCNs.

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

6. When issuing correspondence about a PCN a council will write to the motorist using the address held by the DVLA; it is a legal requirement for the motorist to update the DVLA with their new address if they move.
7. Mr X has not provided any response from the Council to the complaint and it is therefore unclear whether it wrote to Mr X at an old address or otherwise why it wrote to him using the wrong address. This does not however alter our approach to the complaint.
8. Because Mr X did not receive the correspondence he has grounds to apply to the TEC to make a late witness statement or statutory declaration. Mr X may contact the TEC directly to confirm which is appropriate in his case.
9. If the TEC accepts Mr X’s application it may order the Council to take the process back to an earlier stage, reinstating his right of appeal and reducing the amount owed. If the TEC refuses Mr X’s application he may apply for a review of its decision.
10. The process was designed specifically to deal with issues such as that raised by Mr X and I have seen nothing to suggest it would be unreasonable to expect Mr X to use it. I will not therefore exercise my discretion to investigate the matter further.
11. Mr X may also wish to check with the DVLA to ensure his address is correct, in order to prevent any similar issues from occurring in the future.

Back to top

Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it would be reasonable for Mr X to apply to the TEC to make a late witness statement/statutory declaration.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman