A2Dominion Housing Options Limited (202205233)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202205233

A2Dominion Housing Options Limited

10 January 2023

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 response to the resident’s reports about his heating and hot water system.

Background

2. The resident is an assured tenant at the property of the landlord. The landlord is a registered provider of social housing. The property is a third floor two-bedroom apartment in a block of flats above commercial premises.
3. On 17 March 2022, the resident reported a boiler leak and no hot water to the landlord. An engineer visited the property the following day and discovered a new part was needed. The new part was ordered and was to be fitted on 28 March 2022. The part was difficult to obtain and as a result of this, and miscommunication between the landlord and contractor, the resident was left without hot water for 56 days. During this time, the landlord’s contractor visited on eleven occasions. The hot water and leak were fixed on 12 May 2022.
4. On 4 April 2022, the resident raised a stage one complaint to the landlord regarding the period without hot water. The resident was also dissatisfied with the amount of time he had to take off work for appointments and loss of earnings for this time.
5. The landlord provided its stage one response on 20 April 2022. It upheld the resident’s complaint and offered £262 in compensation. The compensation comprised of £100 for the resident’s distress and inconvenience, £50 for the length of time it took to resolve the complaint, and £112 for the loss of hot water calculated at £2 a day for 56 days.
6. On 22 April 2022, the resident raised a stage two complaint regarding the amount of compensation offered by the landlord. It took the landlord until 17 June 2022 to acknowledge the stage two request. During this time the resident chased the landlord multiple times. The landlord responded with multiple reasons for the delay, including that its investigation was taking longer than inspected, and that the case worker was on annual leave. The landlord provided its stage two response on 22 June 2022 and reiterated its offer of compensation.
7. The resident brought his complaint to this service because he was dissatisfied with the amount of time it took to repair his boiler. He also did not feel that the compensation offered covered his and his son’s distress and inconvenience, nor the wages he lost making himself available for appointments. The resident considers he should be awarded £2,500.

Assessment and findings

Policies and procedures

8. As per the tenancy agreement, the landlord is responsible for keeping in good repair and working order any installations provided by the landlord for space and water heating.
9. As per the landlord’s responsive repairs policy, the loss of hot water is classified as a standard repair and the water leak an urgent repair. With urgent repairs, an engineer will visit the property within twenty-four hours of the issue being reported to the landlord. If the issue cannot be fixed on first inspection a temporary fix will be made until any parts needed can be obtained. There is no given time scale for standard repairs.
10. The landlord’s complaints procedure is a two-stage process. If the resident is not satisfied with the stage two outcome he can bring his complaint to this service eight weeks after exhausting the landlord’s complaints procedure.
11. As per the landlord’s compensation policy, payments may be offered when the landlord decides that service failure for expressions of dissatisfaction warrant compensation. This may be for missed appointments, loss of heating and hot water, service failure causing distress and inconvenience, and for time and trouble.

Repairs to the boiler

12. It is not disputed that the resident was without hot water for 56 days and that the delay was due to the contractor obtaining a part to fix the boiler, and miscommunication between the landlord and contractor. It is also not disputed that there was a lack of communication from the landlord and contractor to the resident as well as two missed appointments due to the contractor not turning up.
13. When failings are identified, the Ombudsman’s role is to consider whether the redress offered by the landlord has put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily. This is in accordance with the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles (DRP): to be fair, put things right, and learn from outcomes.
14. In this case, the landlord took steps to put matters right by acknowledging and apologising for its failings in not rectifying the issue in a timely manner, and offering compensation to reflect the resident’s distress and inconvenience. It also appropriately offered compensation for the loss of hot water, in line with its compensation policy. It additionally took steps to put matters right by fixing the boiler on 12 May 2022 and thereby found a permanent resolution to the lack of hot water and boiler leak in the property.
15. Furthermore, the landlord demonstrated learning via the complaints process by acknowledging where it did not meet its expectations, and implementing further training for staff members involved as well as reminding the contractor about the level of service it expects, to prevent similar situations in the future.
16. The Ombudsman notes, however, that there were a significant number of appointments to address the boiler issues. While it may be reasonable for it to take multiple visits, the Ombudsman expects a landlord to clearly articulate the need for the visits and to provide indicative timeframes as to when the works would be complete. The landlord did not do this, which caused frustration for the resident, especially in light of the fact he needed to be present to provide access.
17. Additionally, it is not disputed that there were missed appointments, which again would have caused distress for the resident, who had made himself available for access. The landlord also missed the opportunity to address these missed appointments in its formal responses.
18. The resident has requested compensation for loss of earnings in relation to taking time off to provide access. The terms of the tenancy agreement require a resident to provide reasonable access and it is not evident that the landlord’s visits, while numerous, were unnecessary or unreasonable. As noted above, however, consideration has been given to the landlord’s communication in relation to these visits.
19. In summary, while the landlord took some steps to put the issues right, its offer of compensation does not reflect the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by its failure to clearly set out the scope of works and timeframes, and for its missed appointments. In the circumstances, a revised amount of £402 compensation is appropriate, being the landlord’s initial offer of £100 for distress and inconvenience, £50 for the delays, £112 for the loss of hot water, and an additional £150 for the poor communication and missed appointments.

Determination

20. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord for its response to the resident’s reports about his heating and hot water system.

Orders

21. The Ombudsman orders the landlord to pay compensation of £402, comprising:
    1. £100 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused by the defective boiler;
    2. £50 for the length of time it took to resolve the complaint;
    3. £112 for the loss of hot water for fifty-six days;
    4. £50 for two missed appointments at £25 each;
    5. £100 for the lack of communication regarding how many appointments were needed and how long the repairs would take.
22. This replaces the landlord’s previous offer of £262. This amount must be paid within four weeks of the date of this determination.