Newham Council (202126549)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202126549

Newham Council

28 July 2022


Our approach

Under our early resolution process, the Ombudsman works with the resident and landlord to explore the issues in dispute, identify the matters that remain outstanding and assist in reaching an agreed settlement.

The complaint

  1. The complaint is about the level of compensation the landlord offered the resident following their complaint about its handling of a repair to a leak into the property.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 55 (c) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress, following the Ombudsman’s intervention which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.

How the complaint was resolved

  1. The resident is a leaseholder of the property. In July 2021, they submitted a complaint to the landlord. They complained that there was leak from the above flat into their bathroom, but they could not report this repair on the landlord’s website. They also complained about an issue with the drainage within the block.
  2. In August 2021, the landlord confirmed that the external drain had been cleared and it closed the complaint.
  3. The resident escalated the complaint in November 2021 as the leak remained outstanding and had also affected the kitchen.
  4. The landlord provided its final response to the resident on 2 February 2022. It confirmed that it took a significant time to respond to the leak and did not respond to the report made in July 2021, until November 2021. It also recognised that there were delays in the completion of repairs to the drainage issue within the block.
  5. In relation to its complaint handling, it acknowledged that it had not provided a full response to the complaint at stage one and failed to issue the stage two response within the timeframe set out in its policy. For the delays in the completion of the repairs and its complaints handling, the landlord offered the resident £350 compensation. It apologised for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident as a result of the shortfalls in its service.
  6. The resident remained unhappy with the outcome of the complaint and explained that they did not believe that the landlord, when offering compensation, had taken into account the distress, time and trouble and the impact the delay in repairing the leak had on them. They informed that they wanted the landlord to offer additional compensation for the time they spent pursuing the matter and said they wanted at least £500 in addition to the £350 already offered. In addition, the resident explained that they had not been able to utilise spaces in the property specifically, the kitchen, as the electrics had been damaged by the leak.
  7. This Service contacted the resident on 17 May 2022, to confirm our understanding of the outstanding issues. The resident confirmed the compensation they sought and informed that the repair work to the damage from the leak was being dealt with by the building insurer.
  8. We informed the landlord of the resident’s preferred outcome to resolve the complaint and it offered an additional £300, making the total compensation offered £650. It also agreed to arrange for the repair to the electrics in the kitchen to be addressed however, the matter was already being dealt with through insurance, a separate process managed by the building insurer.
  9. We discussed the landlord’s offer with the resident on 6 July 2022 but they remained unhappy with the offer. We informed the landlord of this, who made a revised offer of £500, in addition to the £350 it offered in the complaint response making the total offer of compensation £850.  
  10. Paragraph 55 (c) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states that:
    1. “At any time, the Ombudsman may determine the investigation of a complaint immediately if satisfied that the member has made an offer of redress following the Ombudsman’s intervention which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily. This will result in a finding of ‘resolved with intervention’.”
  11. In the complaint response, the landlord identified the failures in the delivery of service as there were delays in it taking action to address the leak to the property. It offered its apologies to the resident and has since made a revised offer to the resident of an additional £500, which the resident wanted as a resolution to the complaint.
  12. I am therefore satisfied, following the intervention of this Service, that the landlord has now taken actions to remedy the matters raised which resolve the complaint satisfactorily.

Recommendations

  1. The above finding is dependent on the landlord making the payment of compensation it has offered. Therefore, within three weeks of the date of this report the landlord is to pay the resident the £850. If the landlord has already paid the resident the £350 it offered in the complaint response, it is to pay the difference.
  2. Once the payment has been made, the landlord is to provide evidence of this to this Service.