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Warwickshire Rural Housing Association Limited (202120658)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202120658

Warwickshire Rural Housing Association Limited

25 August 2022


Our approach

The Housing Ombudsman’s approach to investigating and determining complaints is to decide what is fair in all the circumstances of the case. This is set out in the Housing Act 1996 and the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. The Ombudsman considers the evidence and looks to see if there has been any ‘maladministration’, for example whether the landlord has failed to keep to the law, followed proper procedure, followed good practice or behaved in a reasonable and competent manner.

Both the resident and the landlord have submitted information to the Ombudsman and this has been carefully considered. Their accounts of what has happened are summarised below. This report is not an exhaustive description of all the events that have occurred in relation to this case, but an outline of the key issues as a background to the investigation’s findings.

The complaint

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s boiler repairs and its offer of compensation for this.

Background and summary of events

  1. The resident is a tenant of the landlord of a house.
  2. The resident described having experienced a fault with her boiler on 4 January 2021, leaving both the hot water and heating permanently on at her property. This was reported to the landlord that initially classified this as an emergency repair due within 24 hours on 5 January 2021 that, after she chased it for this on 11 and 15 January 2021, it attended on 15 January 2021, when its engineer reportedly arrived late and without identification or protective equipment. The engineer advised the resident that a replacement part was needed to be ordered to repair the boiler, and so the landlord re-classified this as a routine repair due by 15 February 2021.
  3. Following the resident chasing the landlord for her boiler repair again on 18 January and 1 February 2021, it then re–attended the property on 8 February 2021 to complete the repair. Shortly after it left, she experienced a total loss of hot water and heating, which she waited for it to restore before chasing it to do so on 10 February 2021 when it agreed to attend this or provide her with temporary heaters, with her choosing to stay elsewhere due to the cold temperatures as it had not done so. The landlord subsequently issued a priority 24-hour emergency repair job with a target completion date of 11 February 2021.
  4. The resident also raised a stage one complaint on 11 February 2021 about the lack of hot water and heating in low temperatures at her property without being offered alternative heating or accommodation, so that she and her young children had been unable to stay there since 8 February 2021. She additionally complained about the landlord’s communication for the boiler repairs, informing it that she required thirty minutes’ notice to attend the property to give it access for these. The resident requested a rent rebate for being unable to stay there, and compensation for her and her family’s resulting distress, inconvenience and risk of infection of Covid-19.
  5. After the landlord unsuccessfully attempted to access the property on 12 February 2021 before the resident could get there following one minute’s notice of its attendance, it rebooked this for 14 February 2021. It also offered her temporary heaters on 12 February 2021, but she declined these as she had already left her property prior to this. After re-attending the property on 14 February 2021, the landlord advised that another replacement part was required that it could not obtain, including from alternative suppliers, until the week of 22 February 2021.
  6. The resident followed this up on 16, 17 and18 February 2021, but the landlord could not provide an earlier date for the boiler repair, and so it agreed for her to arrange for her own qualified gas engineer to replace the boiler part and restore her hot water and heating. She then booked her own engineer to attend to do so on 19 February 2021, when they completed the repairs and she moved back in.
  7. The landlord subsequently responded to the resident’s stage one complaint on 23 February 2021, apologising that the Covid-19 pandemic’s effect on its staffing and inability to source a part had led to repair delays to her boiler. It also agreed to pay for her gas engineer, offered her £30 compensation for the delays, and awarded her a further £50 as a goodwill gesture for the impact on her and her family’s wellbeing. The landlord additionally referred the resident to the legal process for residents to undertake minor repairs themselves and deduct the cost from their future rent, as it explained that they were otherwise not entitled to withhold rent.
  8. The resident nevertheless made a final stage complaint on 26 February 2021 about the level of compensation not meeting her expectations. This was in light of the events in her case, the miscommunication and lack of urgency, her 11 days without heating and hot water while being at higher risk with young children, and her resulting financial losses.
  9. The landlord then issued its final stage outcome to the resident on 16 March 2021. It offered her new total compensation of £150 for two missed boiler repair appointments on 14 January and 12 February 2021 with £10 each, its delayed boiler repairs with £30, and the distress and inconvenience that this had caused her with £100 as a goodwill gesture. The landlord added that, if the resident had experienced any other costs that had not been covered by this, she should provide it with evidence of these for it to review. It also reiterated its apology to her and explained that it had raised her case with its gas contractor to ensure that they communicated any direct arrangements made with residents to it to monitor.
  10. The resident remained dissatisfied and complained to this Service that she and her family had 11 days of being unable to live in her property due to there being no hot water or heating there, with the added stress of the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions and this being the coldest month during the landlord’s repair delays. She therefore sought a rent rebate from it for the period that she was unable to live in the property, as well as compensation for her additional costs and inconvenience while she had to stay elsewhere.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident has requested a rent rebate for the 11 days that she was unable to stay at her property due to the lack of heating or hot water there, and she has mentioned seeking compensation for the resulting risk and effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on her family. However, these outcomes are outside the scope of this investigation, under the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, as this Service cannot consider complaints where the resident is seeking an outcome that is not within our authority to provide. As we do not have the authority to adjust rent accounts or determine liability or award damages for the risk and effect of ill-health in the way that a court or tribunal might, this investigation will not consider these outcomes.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s boiler repairs and its offer of compensation for this

  1. The landlord’s compensation policy states that, where it has failed a repair and has to re-attend the property, residents can claim compensation for the delay. This is payable at a fixed rate of £10 for the first day, then £2 per day thereafter, up to a maximum of £50. Gestures of goodwill may also be offered as a discretionary gift by way of an apology in any circumstance where the landlord’s service provision, action or lack of action has caused distress or inconvenience. Residents may additionally submit claims to it for their losses if they think that these are its responsibility.
  2. The landlord’s repairs policy states that, during a total loss of heating and hot water between 1 November and 30 April, it will arrange for emergency repair works for this to be completed within 24 hours. It is required to complete routine repairs within 28 days.
  3. The landlord initially classified the resident’s report of 4 January 2021 of her faulty boiler leaving her hot water and heating permanently on as an emergency repair due within 24 hours under its repairs policy on 5 January 2021, but it did not attend this until 11 days later on 15 January 2021 after she had twice chased it to do so. This was inappropriate and contrary to the policy, although it did then re-attend the reclassified routine repair within its policy’s 28-day timescale for it to do so on 8 February 2021, which was suitable.
  4. In accordance with the landlord’s repairs policy, it subsequently appropriately assigned a 24-hour emergency repair status to the resident’s boiler repairs for her total loss of heating and hot water on 8 February 2021, as this occurred between 1 November and 30 April. It did, however, fail to complete the repair within its repair policy’s 24-hour timescale due to its delays in getting a replacement part for this, and so it agreed to pay for her own qualified gas engineer to do so 11 days later on 19 February 2021. This was an unreasonably excessive delay for such a serious repair during the coldest part of the year, and this meant that the resident had to incur unnecessary additional inconvenience in order to arrange her own engineer to avoid a further delay.
  5. The landlord also did not offer the resident temporary heating while she was without any hot water or heating at her property until four days later on 12 February 2021, or offer her alternative accommodation at all. This meant that she had to arrange her own alternative accommodation from 8 to 19 February 2021, which was inappropriate, and so she declined its later offer of temporary heating as she was no longer staying at the property at that time.
  6. The landlord’s subsequent complaint responses advised that it was unable to source the required part for the resident’s boiler to restore her hot water and heating until the week of 22 February 2021. It had acted appropriately by trying to source the part sooner from an alternative supplier, but it was unable to do so. The landlord additionally reasonably acknowledged its poor communication for this an emergency repair and that its contractors had failed to attend the resident’s property on 14 January and 12 February 2021.
  7. The landlord also investigated this appropriately, finding staffing issues due to Covid-19 and apologising for this. It additionally agreed to reimburse the resident for her own gas engineer’s costs in to completing the boiler repairs on 19 February 2022, and it referred her to the correct legal process to deduct the cost of minor repairs from her future rent. Moreover, the landlord showed that it had learnt from the outcome of the resident’s case by raising this with its gas contractor to ensure that they communicated any direct arrangements made with residents to it to monitor to try and prevent its failings from occurring again.
  8. As a result, it was appropriate the landlord compensated the resident with £30 for its failure to repair the loss of hot water and heating from her boiler on time for 11 days, which was broken down into £10 for the first day on 8 February 2021 plus £20 at the rate of £2 per day for the remaining ten days from 9 to 19 February 2021. It also offered her a goodwill gesture of £100 for her distress and inconvenience, and £20 for the missed appointments, totalling £150. The landlord additionally reasonably agreed with the resident that it would consider any additional costs involved in her staying elsewhere on receiving evidence of these from her.
  9. The landlord’s above actions were suitable because they accorded with the amounts available from its compensation policy for its failed repairs. Moreover, it exercised its discretion under the policy to recognise the resident’s distress and inconvenience with a goodwill gesture, as well inviting her to claim her losses from it that were its responsibility. Nevertheless, the landlord failed to recognise its previous 11-day repair delay from 4 to 15 January 2021 with the same compensation under its policy, which was inappropriate. Its goodwill gesture also did not recognise its four-day delay in offering the resident temporary heating, its failure to offer her temporary accommodation at all, or her unnecessary additional inconvenience from having to arrange her own gas engineer to repair the boiler.
  10. Therefore, the landlord has been ordered below to further compensate the resident with an additional £100 for its further failings identified above. This is in view of £30 being available under its compensation policy for an 11-day repair delay, together with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance’s recommendation of up to £250 compensation for failures to follow the landlord’s policies resulting in distress, inconvenience, loss of confidence and delays in resolving the issue for the resident. The landlord has also been recommended below to contact the resident to re-offer to consider her costs from her having to stay elsewhere, and to review its relevant staff training needs.  

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s boiler repairs and its offer of compensation for this.

Order and recommendations

  1. The landlord is ordered to pay the resident total compensation of £250 within four weeks, comprised of:
    1. £150 from its final stage complaint response to her, if she has not received this already.
    2. £30 for its 11-day boiler repair delay from 4 to 15 January 2021.
    3. £70 for its delays in offering alternative heating and accommodation to her, and requiring her to arrange her own gas engineer to repair her boiler.
  2. The landlord is recommended to:
    1. Contact the resident to re-offer to consider any evidence of additional costs from her having to stay elsewhere for the duration of the boiler repairs.
    2. Review its staff’s training needs with regard to their application of its repairs and compensation policies, and this Service’s remedies guidance at https://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/about-us/corporate-information/policies/dispute-resolution/policy-on-remedies/, in light of its failings in the resident’s case.
  3. The landlord shall contact this Service with four weeks to confirm that it has complied with the above order, and whether it will follow the above recommendations.