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Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (202117717)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202117717

Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing

12 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 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:
    1. Repairs to the resident’s heating and hot water system and the level of compensation offered.
    2. The associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is a tenant of the landlord.
  2. The resident initially reported having intermittent hot water and heating in her property on 24 January 2021. A contractor attended on 30 January 2021 and established that there was a faulty part in the resident’s heating interface unit (HIU) which needed replacing. From this date the resident reported having no access to heating or hot water. Parts were fitted on 4 February 2021 but this did not resolve the issues. A further attempt to resolve the issue was made on 17 February 2021 and further parts were ordered. The landlord arranged for an independent contractor to attend on 24 February 2021 at which point the resident’s heating and hot water was reinstated.
  3. The resident initially raised a complaint in February 2021 as she had been without heating and hot water for approximately 3.5 weeks during the winter months. She was dissatisfied with the level of communication from the landlord and had been passed back and forth between the landlord and the contractor with no communication regarding what the issue was or when it would be fixed during this period.  She had also been promised call-backs which had not happened and felt that the landlord had shown a lack of care. She wanted the landlord to fully investigate its handling of the matter and to resolve the damp and mould issues which had occurred in the property as a result of the condensation that had formed by needing to boil water. She added that she wanted compensation in recognition of the additional costs she had incurred using fan-heaters, the inconvenience caused by needing to stay with family members during this time and the overall distress and inconvenience caused. The resident also asked the landlord to provide copies of its repairs and complaints policies.
  4. In response to the resident’s complaint, the landlord apologised for its service and any inconvenience caused to the resident. It explained that the building had a communal boiler which distributed hot water and heating through an HIU into each property. Its contractors had initially found a fault with HIU and experienced delays when sourcing parts, further explaining that the parts required were not as readily available as for generic boilers. The landlord apologised for the length of time it had taken to diagnose and resolve the issue and the time the resident had spent without heating and hot water  It also acknowledged that the resident had needed to repeatedly call for updates on the progress of the works and apologised for its poor communication. It offered the resident £200 compensation in recognition of the loss of heating and hot water over 3.5 weeks and the time and trouble she had spent pursing the matter in light of its poor communication. It confirmed that it would be looking to work with the independent contractor for future HIU repairs and was in the process of implementing repair kits for HIU repairs so that repairs could be completed on the first visit in the future.
  5. It its correspondence with this Service, the landlord also acknowledged that there was a delay in logging the complaint between 17 and 26 February 2021 and offered an additional £20 compensation. It also said that it would consider reimbursing the resident for any increased energy costs associated with using fan heaters in the property up to a value of £300 should she provide evidence in the form of receipts.
  6. The resident referred her complaint to this Service as she remained dissatisfied with the lack of communication from the landlord and the level of compensation offered for the time she had spent without heating and hot water in the property in winter months. She added that she had not been provided with an explanation for the landlord’s poor communication or why it took numerous contractor visits to resolve the issue. She added that she had not been provided with the policies she had requested from the landlord.

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s handling of repairs to the resident’s heating and hot water system and the level of compensation offered.

  1. The resident’s tenancy agreement states that the landlord is responsible for repairs needed to installations for the supply of heating and hot water in the property which would include boilers and central heating systems. The landlord’s repairs policy states that emergency repairs, including those where there has been a total loss of heating, would be completed within 24 hours. If replacement parts need to be sourced, ordered and fitted, the repair may take a further seven days. Where there are likely to be delays to the repair, the landlord would be expected to contact the resident, explain the reason for the delay and provide an expected completion date for the repair.
  2. In this case, it is not disputed that the resident was without hot water and heating for 3.5 weeks during winter months which was likely to have caused significant inconvenience. The resident was dissatisfied with the delay and expressed concern that an independent contractor was able to resolve the issue on the first visit following several visits by other contractors which had not solved the problem. It should be noted that It can take more than one attempt to resolve matters such as heating and hot water issues where there are communal boilers as it can be difficult to identify the cause of issue at the outset and in some case different repairs may need to be attempted before the matter is resolved. This would not necessarily constitute a service failure by the landlord if it was making reasonable efforts to find the cause of the problem and resolve it in a timely manner. The landlord was entitled to rely on the opinions of its qualified staff and contractors when deciding what work to undertake.
  3. The landlord has acted appropriately by explaining that parts required for HIU systems were not readily available and that its initial contractor experienced delays in sourcing the parts required. Ultimately, this delay was somewhat outside of the landlords control. Attempts were made on 4 and 17 February 2021 to reinstate the heating and hot water but these were not successful. It was reasonable for the landlord to employ an independent contractor for a second opinion in view of the delays experienced when sourcing parts. The independent contractor established that the issue was caused by a wring fault and resolved the problem on the same day. There is no evidence that a wiring fault had been identified at an earlier date. The landlord acted appropriately by apologising to the resident for the delay in diagnosing the correct fault and acknowledging the impact that the lack of heating and hot water for 3.5 weeks over the winter months would have had on the resident.
  4. It is not disputed that the landlord’s communication was poor. Landlords would be expected to provide regular updates to residents were there is likely to be a delay in resolving a repair issue, however, in this case it is clear that the resident spent significant time and trouble pursuing updates and was not given clear communication about what was causing the repair fault or when it would be resolved. The landlord has acted appropriately by utilising the complaints process to fully explain the repair issues to the resident. It has also acknowledged its poor communication and the need for the resident to pursue updates. It may have been helpful for the landlord to have provided a further explanation of what it could have done differently in terms of communication within its complaint responses to more fully resolve the resident’s complaint, however, this was not a significant failure as it addressed the overall impact of its failings on the resident and offered compensation by way of apology which was reasonable under the circumstances.
  5. The landlord acted fairly in acknowledging its mistake and apologising to the resident for the delay in diagnosing the issue, reinstating her heating and hot water and for its lack of communication. It put things right by awarding £200 compensation and has since offered to reimburse resident for additional energy costs on the provision of receipts which will be discussed in more detail below. The landlord demonstrated that it learnt from outcomes by confirming that it would look to work with the independent contractor in future and forming repair kits for HIU systems so that HIU repairs can be completed on the first visit in the future.
  6. The compensation award was in line with the landlord’s compensation policy and the Ombudsman’s own remedies guidance (published on our website) which states that amounts in the range of £50 to £250 are proportionate where there have been service failures but these were of a short duration and may not have significantly affected the overall outcome of the complaint, examples include repeated failures to return phone calls or failure to meet service standards for actions and responses. The landlord offered compensation that the Ombudsman considers was proportionate to the distress and inconvenience experienced by the resident as a result of the landlord’s failings.

The landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

  1. The landlord’s complaints policy states that it has a two-stage complaints process. At stage one, the landlord should acknowledge the complaint within five working days and issue a response within a further ten working days. if the resident remains dissatisfied, they can escalate their complaint to stage two. At stage two, the landlord should issue a response within 20 working days. This will be the landlord’s final response to the complaint. The landlord would be expected to address each aspect of a resident’s complaint within its complaint responses.
  2. The resident initially raised a complaint on 18 February 2021, she continued to pursue her concerns on 23 and 26 February 2021. The landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint on 26 February 2021 which was approximately one working day outside of its timescales for acknowledging complaints at stage one. It then issued its stage one complaint response on 10 March 2021, which was within a reasonable timeframe. The landlord has since acknowledged the delay in acknowledging the complaint and offered the resident £20 compensation in recognition of any inconvenience caused. This is considered proportionate as the delay was not significant and was unlikely to have caused significant inconvenience to the resident. The resident asked for her complaint to be escalated to stage two on 16 March 2021. The landlord issued its stage two complaint response on 12 April 2021 which was within its 20-working day timescale at this stage.
  3. As part of her complaint, the resident raised concerns about additional expenses she had incurred as a result of needing to use fan heaters to heat the property. The landlord did not address these aspects of the resident’s complaint in its complaint responses which is likely to have caused inconvenience to the resident as these issues remained outstanding. Whilst the landlord has confirmed to this Service that it would be willing to reimburse the resident for additional energy costs up to a value of £300 on provision of receipts, there is a lack of evidence to confirm whether this has been communicated to the resident. This offer would have been reasonable if offered initially, however, due to the length of time that has passed since the period in question, the resident may not be in a position to provide receipts now. It would have been appropriate for the landlord to have acknowledged and responded to this aspect of the resident’s complaint within its formal complaints process whilst the issue was still ‘live’. It is also of concern that this aspect of the resident’s complaint was not addressed until prompted by the Ombudsman.
  4. Additionally, the resident raised concern about the presence of damp and mould in the property due to additional condensation in the property as a result of boiling water needed for cleaning and bathing purposes. The landlord does not appear to have addressed the resident’s concerns within its complaint responses and has not provided any evidence which suggests that it had taken steps to inspect or confirm its position regarding whether remedial work was required which is likely to have caused inconvenience. In view of this, the landlord should contact the resident to confirm whether there is still damp and mould in the property, it should then arrange an inspection and any remedial works as required.
  5. In her communication with this Service, the resident expressed dissatisfaction that she had not been provided with policies that she had previously requested from the landlord. The evidence shows that the resident had been provided with the landlord’s complaints policy information on 26 February 2021 within its stage one acknowledgement email. She later requested the landlord’s repairs policy on 26 March 2021. This appears to have been provided by the landlord within its stage two complaint response on 12 April 2021, however the resident continued to express concern that she had not received this. It is, therefore recommended that the landlord sends the resident its complaints and repairs policies as it remains unclear as to whether these have been provided. 
  6. The resident has also raised concerns that she could not contact her complaint handler following the end of the landlord’s internal complaints process. It is noted that the resident contacted the landlord on 27 April 2021 to explain her dissatisfaction with the stage two complaint response. The complaint handler responded confirming that if the resident remains dissatisfied that she could contact this Service, which was appropriate. The Ombudsman has not seen any evidence to suggest that further contact was made following this date. If the resident remains dissatisfied with the landlord’s communication following her complaint she may wish to contact the landlord with any new concerns and raise a separate complaint if appropriate to resolve any further issues. She may the approach the Ombudsman if she remains dissatisfied with the landlord’s final response.
  7. The landlord should pay the resident an additional £50 compensation in view of its failure to address aspects of the resident’s complaint within its complaint responses. It should also pay the resident £100 compensation in view of its failure to address the resident’s concerns about additional energy expenses at an earlier stage. If the resident is able to provide receipts of her increased energy costs between 30 January 2021 and 24 February 2021 and this exceeds £100, the landlord should consider paying additional compensation. These amounts are considered proportionate in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance as detailed above.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 55 (b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress prior to investigation in respect of its handling of repairs to the resident’s heating and hot water system, which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.
  2.  In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in respect of its handling of the associated complaint.

Orders

  1. The landlord should complete the following actions within four weeks:
    1. The landlord is to pay the resident £170, comprised of:
      1. £70 in recognition of the inconvenience caused by the landlord’s poor complaint handling.
      2. £100 in recognition of the additional energy expenses the resident incurred and its failure to address this at an earlier stage. If the resident is able to provide receipts of her increased energy costs between 30 January 2021 and 24 February 2021 and this exceeds £100, the landlord should consider paying additional compensation.

 Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord pays the resident £200 compensation as previously offered in recognition of the delay in reinstating the resident’s heating and hot water and the time and trouble the resident spent pursuing the matter as a result of the landlord’s poor communication if this has not already been paid.
  2. It is recommended that the landlord considers carrying out staff training to ensure that residents are regularly updated on the progress of any repairs where there is likely to be a delay in order to better manage their expectations moving forward. It should also ensure that each aspect of a resident’s complaint is addressed within its complaints process.
  3. It is recommended that the landlord sends the resident its complaints and repairs policies as it remains unclear as to whether these have been provided. 
  4. The landlord should contact the resident to confirm whether there is still damp and mould in the property, it should then arrange and inspection and any remedial works as required.