Peabody Trust (202122368)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202122368

Peabody Trust

27 June 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 payment of £100 compensation to the resident as ordered by the Housing Ombudsman Service.

Background

2. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord, residing in a two-bedroom terraced house.
3. This Service ordered the landlord to pay £100 compensation to the resident following a previous determination made in November 2020. The landlord sent the resident a compensation payment acceptance form which requested the resident’s bank details so that payment could be made. The landlord advised that the form was not returned and in light of this, it sought advice from this Service on 14 January 2021. This Service advised that if the resident did not return the form by 29 January 2021, payment could be made into the resident’s rent account.
4. The resident requested payment to be deducted from his rent charge on 19 January 2021. However, the landlord preceded to credit the £100 to his rent account on 9 March 2021.
5. The resident’s stage one complaint on 6 November 2021 expressed dissatisfaction with the following:
   1. That it didn’t appear he had been compensated as no deductions were made to his rent payments.
   2. That the landlord told the Housing Ombudsman Service the resident had not returned the form.
   3. He was unhappy with the action of the compensation being paid into his rent account.
6. In its stage one complaint response the landlord confirmed that the £100 was paid into the resident’s rent account on 9 March 2021. It explained that the payment placed the resident’s rent account at one week in advance as per his tenancy, which is why the subsequent direct debit rent payment was not reduced.
7. After the landlord’s stage one complaint response, the resident requested for the money to be applied to his bank account.
8. On 9 November 2021, the landlord advised the resident that payment was made into the resident’s rent account on 9 March 2021 and stated although the resident was expecting the next direct debit to have been reduced to reflect the payment, this was not done. This was because all rent accounts had to be at least one week or one month in advance in line with the tenancy agreement.
9. The stage two complaint response issued on 24 December 2021 advised that as the resident did not return the compensation form, the landlord paid the compensation in accordance with the advice sought from this Service.
10. Following the landlord’s complaints process, on 10 February 2022 the landlord offered an additional £100 compensation into the resident’s bank account. It requested the resident’s bank details so that payment could be made.
11. The resident remains dissatisfied with the:
12. Landlord’s decision to inform this Service that the resident delayed returning the compensation form.
13. Landlord’s decision to pay the £100 into his rent account. He understands that the landlord has his bank details, and feels that the form didn’t need to be completed for payment.
14. Landlord’s decision not to transfer the compensation from his rent account to his bank account after expressing dissatisfaction at the way that payment was made.
15. As a resolution, the resident would like an apology for the way that the matter was handled and a higher offer of compensation.

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s decision to inform this Service that the resident delayed returning the compensation form

16. The resident expressed dissatisfaction at a landlord staff member contacting this Service on 14 January 2021 to advise the resident had not returned the compensation form. The resident felt he had been accused of not responding to the landlord’s emails despite feeling that the landlord had not responded to his earlier emails. When contacting this Service, the landlord was seeking advice given that it had not received the compensation form back from the resident. It asked whether the compensation payment could be paid into the rent account as the form had not yet been returned.
17. The resident has been unable to confirm whether the form was returned. It was therefore appropriate for the landlord to consult with this Service to ensure compliance with the order made.

The landlord’s decision to pay the £100 compensation into the resident’s rent account

18. The landlord’s compensation policy outlines that ‘payments for time, trouble and inconvenience and poor complaint handling may be paid by crediting a bank account, vouchers or crediting a rent or service charge account’. The landlord provided the resident with a compensation form, allowing the opportunity for the payment to be made into his bank account if this was the resident’s preference. A deadline of 29 January 2021 was set for the resident to return the form. The resident was told that failure to return the form would result in the compensation being paid into his rent account.
19. The landlord acted in line with its compensation policy by paying the £100 into the resident’s rent account despite the resident’s request that the landlord reduce his following rent charge by £100.  It was also reasonable that the landlord applied the compensation amount to the resident’s rent account as per the terms of the tenancy agreement.
20. The resident felt the landlord could have applied the compensation payment directly to his bank account as it already held his bank details. However, the landlord explained the process to the resident and was clear on the timescales for the form to be returned. As the resident did not return this, payment was made into his rent account.
21. The landlord advised this Service that it is an audit requirement to ensure the resident completes the form, or emails his bank details so that the compensation is processed correctly. This was in relation to payments made directly to resident’s bank accounts.

The landlord’s decision not to transfer the compensation from his rent account to his bank account

22. The resident’s tenancy agreement states the resident must pay the rent for each week of the tenancy on the Monday in advance. Due to the terms of the resident’s tenancy, when the £100 compensation was paid into the rent account it placed the resident’s account at one week in advance, not appearing as additional credit, or being deducted from future rent payments.
23. The resident was unable to see the benefit of the payment and believed that the landlord had failed to pay the compensation. He subsequently requested on 18 December 2021 for the landlord to transfer the payment to him as a cheque or into his bank account.
24. Within the landlord’s stage two complaint response, it acknowledged that due to the circumstances of the resident’s rent account, the resident would not have received a reduction to his rent payments or felt a benefit following the payment. However, as the resident had failed to return the form to the landlord, it was unable to process any payment into his bank account.
25. After its stage two complaint response, the landlord offered the resident an additional £50 on 10 February 2022. It corrected the offer to £100 the following day when the resident queried the amount. The landlord advised the resident that this payment would be made directly to the resident’s bank account on receipt of the resident’s bank details, or upon completion of a compensation form. The landlord confirmed that the £100 compensation offer was in addition to the payment previously made into the resident’s rent account.
26. The landlord exceeded its obligations by offering a further £100 to the resident by way of payment to his bank account, doubling the compensation offer which the landlord had been ordered to pay. It offered this as an attempt to resolve the matter. The resident has not responded to this offer, or provided his bank details for payment to be made. The landlord made efforts to comply with the order, and no service failure was identified with the landlord’s handling of the matter.

Determination (decision)

27. In accordance with paragraph 52 of The Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration in respect of the landlord’s payment of £100 compensation to the resident as ordered by the Housing Ombudsman.