Transport Malta to set up mechanism for damages caused to cars

Transport Malta and the Office of the Ombudsman came to an agreement to set up an independent mechanism whereby motorists can claim damage sustained to their vehicles as a result of road surface defects.

Over the past year, the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman had been investigating a number of complaints lodged by members of the public who claimed payment for damages allegedly sustained by their vehicles due to road surface defects - the complainants claimed that they should have been addressed by Transport Malta.

“A number of meetings were held with authority officials and numerous correspondences were exchanged where it was agreed that a procedure and criteria to be adopted in processing such claims needed to be determined, formalised and published by the authority,” the Office of the Ombudsman said in a statement issued this afternoon. “The authority gave serious consideration to this matter and took up this suggestion and created an internal complaints handling mechanism for the assessment of claims relating to arterial and distributor roads as defined in the National Structure Plan.

A document, indicating the procedure to be followed by the Roads and Infrastructure Directorate of Transport Malta (RID) and the manner in which the claims would be examined, assessed and decided was passed on to this Office for its comments and possible suggestions.

“The Ombudsman considered this initiative of the Authority as laudable and noted that once this internal complaints handling mechanism was properly publicised, it would improve the resolution of pending issues with members of the public,” it said, adding that it made a number of suggestions which should render the procedure more effective and enable this mechanism to bring the Authority and claimants together so that an amicable and more effective determination of grievances could be reached within the shortest possible time and through the use of the cheapest methods.

These suggestions included:

1. the acknowledgement of all correspondence received from claimants within pre-established short time-frames;
2. a clear indication of the time limits applicable for the review and decision of  claims;
3. where the claim is considered as not having been adequately substantiated, claimants are to be provided with details specifying the findings of the Committee and indicating detailed reasons for the refusal of the claim, so that claimant could request a reconsideration of the decision in terms of the procedure established by the Authority.

The Ombudsman also pointed out that an alternative dispute resolution mechanism which is completely independent of the Authority should be created in addition to the internal mechanism envisaged by the Authority for the resolution of those claims which were not resolved by this internal committee, adding that the Authority should not be involved in the re-examination of a decision of the Committee since this could mislead the public.

The Ombudsman suggested that this independent Board would replace the Appeals mechanism envisaged in the Authority’s guidelines and should be composed of competent persons whose decision is not dependent on approval by the Authority or any of its officials. Moreover, it said that members of the board should be appointed for a pre-established term so as to ensure their independence and autonomy.

The Office assures the public that if complainants are not satisfied with the outcome of a claim lodged with this internal committee, complainants can always refer the grievance to the Office of the Ombudsman for investigation.