London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q) (202125101)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202125101

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q)

8 January 2024

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

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
1. The resident’s reports of no heating and hot water.
2. The replacement boiler.
The landlord’s complaint handling has also been investigated.

Background

The resident holds an assured tenancy with the landlord, which is a housing association, for a 3 bedroom house. The tenancy began on 4 March 1991. The landlord is aware that the resident has lung cancer and its systems show that she has a priority need for heating and hot water.
On 13 January 2022 the resident contacted the landlord to report that she had no heating or hot water. The landlord raised a job for its contractor to attend as a priority. Later that day the resident contacted the landlord and said that the heating had been coming on and off, but would still like the contractor to attend.
On 19 January 2022 the resident contacted the landlord and raised a complaint. The resident said that she was unhappy with the service provided by the contractor as they were always late to appointments and that an operative attended to complete a gas safety check, but one had been completed the week before. The landlord acknowledged the complaint on the same day and said it would respond by 31 January 2022.
On 12 February 2022 the resident contacted the landlord’s out of hours emergency service and to report that she had no heating or hot water. On 14 February 2022 the resident contacted the landlord as she had been unable to get through to the contractor and explained that no one had attended to her over the weekend. The landlord confirmed that the job had been raised incorrectly and would raise a priority job for an operative attend as soon as possible. The repair was completed on 15 February 2022.
On 15 February 2022 the resident contacted the landlord to chase a response to her complaint. She also explained that there had been a further issue with her heating and hot water and although an emergency repair had been raised, no one attended and she had been without heating and hot water since 12 February 2022.
Following a phone call with the resident on 1 March 2022, the landlord provided the resident with its written stage 1 response. The landlord confirmed that it had upheld her complaint as she had been without heating and hot water for 65 hours which was unacceptable, given her health conditions. The landlord offered the resident £580 compensation for the delay in providing a complaint response, and distress and inconvenience associated with the complaint handling and missed appointment. It was agreed that the landlord would contact the resident on 16 March 2022.
On 11 April 2022 the landlord contacted the resident to discuss the stage 1 response, it explained that the previous investigator had left the organisation and wanted to confirm if she would like to accept the compensation offered at stage 1. The resident said that she had had issues with the boiler for the last 8 years and does not feel that £580 fairly reflects the issues she has experienced in that time. The resident said she wanted to escalate her complaint to stage 2 and that in order to resolve her complaint wanted a new boiler to be installed and reassurances that if she had any further issues out of hours, that the repair would be attended to as a priority.
On 13 April 2022 the landlord wrote to the resident and confirmed that it had agreed to replace the boiler in recognition of the issues the resident had experienced. It also confirmed that the resident wanted the new contractor, who would be in place from 1 May 2022, to carry out the works and that the landlord would raise an order on 28 April 2022 for the contractor to attend within 20 working days to complete a survey. The letter further confirmed that the complaint had been escalated to stage 2, but there would be a delay in providing a response, which the resident was happy with.
On 28 April 2022 the landlord raised an order to the new contractor to survey the boiler, it also raised an order for an asbestos survey to be carried out. On 7 June 2022 the resident contacted the landlord to ask for an update as a survey had been completed, but no works had been carried out. Between 7 and 13 June 2022 the landlord contacted the contractor to ask for an update, who confirmed that it was currently waiting for the asbestos report.
On 13 June 2022 the resident contacted the landlord as she had received a phone call from a different contractor who wanted to book the asbestos check. She said that she would not answer any more phone calls and would not allow an asbestos check unless the landlord wrote to her to confirm that it was required.
On 16 June 2022 the landlord wrote to the resident and confirmed that an asbestos survey was required. The letter also confirmed the contractor’s name and telephone number and that the resident should call to make a suitable appointment.
On 1 September 2022 the resident contacted the landlord and chased a response to her stage 2 complaint. The resident said that someone had surveyed her boiler, but had not carried out the work. The resident said in order to resolve her complaint she wanted:
1. The landlord to confirm that if the boiler were to break down again out of hours that she would be a priority and to provide her with a name and number for her to contact should she have any further issues.
2. Compensation for every time the boiler broke down since 2014.
3. The landlord to accept responsibility for its failure to provide her hot water and heating.
On 5 October 2022 the resident’s boiler was replaced, and an electrician attended on 6 October to wire up the central heating controls. On this visit, it was noted that an adjustment? needed to be made, and on 8 October an operative attended and left the boiler working. On 10, 11 and 12 October 2022 the resident report to the landlord that the boiler had low pressure and that she had no heating or hot water. On 13 October 2022 a further order was raised to the contractor who attended the same day and fixed a leak on the boiler which was causing the low pressure.
Following contact from the resident, on 6 October 2022 the Ombudsman contacted the landlord and asked it to provide a stage 2 response within 10 working days. The landlord acknowledged the resident’s complaint and said that it would provide a response by 20 October 2022.
On 13 October 2022 the landlord provided its stage 2 response, where it confirmed that there was an administrative error regarding the order that was raised on 12 February 2022 and this was why the contractor did not attend. It also detailed the steps that had been taken with regards to replacing the resident’s boiler. The landlord offered an increased amount of compensation, which it broke down as:
1. £580 as offered at stage 1.
2. £50 for the delay in providing a stage 2 response.
3. £75 for service failure.
4. £30 for time and effort.
5. £100 for compensation relating to the right to repair scheme.
On 21 and 29 October 2022 the resident contacted the Ombudsman and confirmed that she would like the Service to investigate her complaint. She said that the new boiler had not been installed correctly and she was without heating and hot water for 100 hours over 8 days. In order to resolve her complaint, the resident said that she wanted a combination boiler installed and increased compensation for the stress and anxiety she had experienced. The resident also said that the situation had exacerbated her health issues and wants a named contact for any future issues.
In December 2023, the resident provided the Service with an update. She explained that for the first 3 months of having the new boiler she had repeated issues, and the while she had not experienced as many issues as she had previously, she does not feel that it is working as effectively as it should. The resident explained that she would like the landlord to understand the impact its failure to provide services within a timely manner has on her, including the need for heating and hot water

Assessment and findings

The Ombudsman’s approach

The Ombudsman’s role is to determine complaints by reference to what is fair in all the circumstances and decide if the landlord is responsible for maladministration or service failure.
When investigating a complaint, the Ombudsman applies its dispute resolution principles. These are high-level good practice guidance developed from the Ombudsman’s experience of resolving disputes, for use by everyone involved in the complaints process. There are only three principles driving effective dispute resolution:
1. Be fair – treat people fairly and follow fair processes
2. Put things right, and
3. Learn from outcomes.

Scope of Investigation

The Ombudsman notes that the resident has informed the landlord and this Service of the exacerbated health issues she has experienced, which she says are as a result of the landlord’s actions. This investigation is unable to determine a causal link between these and the landlord’s actions. Often when there is a dispute over whether a health issue has been made worse, the courts rely on expert evidence in the form of a medico-legal report. This will give an expert opinion of the cause or deterioration of a condition. Without that evidence, this Service is not able to draw any conclusions on whether the resident’s health has been affected by the way in which the landlord handled the reports of no heating and hot water or boiler install. This question may be better for the courts to decide, where an expert can be cross examined during a live hearing.
The resident has also said that in order to resolve her complaint she wants the landlord to install a combination boiler. However, under the Scheme, the Ombudsman may not consider complaints concerning matters where the resident is seeking an outcome that is not within our authority to provide. As we do not have the authority or expertise to order the landlord to change the type of boiler the landlord has installed, these outcomes are not considered in this investigation, which instead focuses on whether it followed its obligations.
Furthermore, in accordance with paragraph 42(b), the Ombudsman is unable to consider complaints about matters which were not were brought to the Ombudsman’s attention normally more than 12 months after they exhausted the member’s complaints procedure. In this case, the resident did raise complaints in 2020 about the contractor’s service relating to her boiler, but these were not referred to the Ombudsman. Therefore, this investigation will focus on matters which occurred from January 2022 when the resident raised a further stage 1 complaint. The investigation will also consider the wider implication of historic repairs in the context of the handling of more recent issues.

Policies and procedures.

Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 places a legal duty on landlords to make full, effective and lasting repairs, once it is given notice of disrepair. They must keep in repair and working order the installations for the supply of gas and electricity, water and sanitation and space heating and heating water. The resident’s tenancy agreement also reflects these obligations.
The landlord’s repair policy, dated 2021, section 4.8 states that it will attend to day to day repairs at the earliest mutually convenient appointment. For emergency works, where there is an immediate danger to residents, it will attend within 24 hours. Furthermore, if emergency works occur out of hours, it will attend within four hours. The out of hours service will be to ‘make safe’ and lower the immediate risk. The follow-on repair will then be completed at the earliest mutually convenient appointment.
The landlord’s repair policy also states that if a resident is vulnerable, it will adjust its service standards where a delay would put them at risk because of a medical condition.
The landlords complaint policy, dated October 2020, states that it operates a 2 stage complaints process. Stage 1 complaints will be acknowledged within 1 working day and responses will be provided within 10 working days. Stage 2 complaints will be acknowledged within 2 working days and responses will be provided within 20 working days.
The landlord’s compensation policy, dated August 2021, states that where there has been a loss of individual service/facilities, such as heating and hot water and it has not been resolved within given timeframes and service level agreements, the landlord will consider discretionary compensation. It will also make payment in line with the Right to Repair scheme, which is a £10 initial payment for any period up to 5 days after the target date, then an additional £2 per day until repair is completed.
The policy also states that it will provide fixed service awards for set scenarios, such as:
1. Failure to respond to a query within 10 working days where it is identified as part of a complaint investigation – £10.
2. Failure to keep an appointment without at least 24 hours’ notice – £20.
It will also make one off payments for the following reasons:
1. Complaint handling – a single payment, maximum of £200.
2. Time and effort – payments between £10 – £200
3. Distress and inconvenience – payments between £10 and £60 for each category.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of no heating and hot water.

When the resident first made a complaint on 18 January 2022, the landlord’s records say that it was in relation to its contractor being late to appointments and a general lack of communication. However, the landlord’s stage 1 response in March focused on the landlord’s handling of the out of hours report of no heating and hot water on 12 February 2022.
The landlord’s repair records confirm that a priority order was raised on 12 February 2022, however no one had attended. Following the resident’s contact on 14 February 2022, records also confirm that the landlord took action to rectify this and arrange for an operative to attend as soon as possible. The records further confirm that an operative attended on 15 February 2022, and the resident called the landlord after the visit to compliment the operative.
While it is not clear as to whether the landlord solely focused on the events in February 2022 because of the conversation with the resident on 1 March 2023, the landlord did appropriately acknowledge within its stage 1 response that it was unacceptable for the resident to be left without heating and hot water for 65 hours and that service failure had occurred.
The Ombudsman has seen evidence which shows that the landlord’s in-house system has an alert on the resident’s record which states she should be treated as priority for any heating and hot water repairs. Therefore, it is not clear why the out of hours appointment that was raised on 12 February 2022 was not treated as a priority as the landlord did not provide comment.
When the resident contacted the landlord on 14 February 2022, the landlord took active steps to try and resolve the issue and reraised the order to its contractor as a priority. Furthermore the landlord sent emails to its contractor, as well as following it up later in the day, to try and secure an appointment as soon as possible.
While these are positive steps, the service failure severely affected the resident in the winter months. The resident explained that she did not leave her bed for the days she was without heating as she was so cold. The landlord was aware of the resident’s medical conditions and while it did take action with its contractor, it should have taken further steps to assist the resident such as delivering temporary heaters.
As part of its stage 1 response, the landlord acknowledged that the resident should not have been left without heating and hot water. It recognised that due to her medical conditions and vulnerabilities the contractor should have attended and that it felt compensation was appropriate in order to put things right. The landlord offered the resident £580 compensation in recognition of its complaint handling delays and missed appointments.
While compensation does not ease the distress the resident experienced due to the landlord’s service failure, it is used as a tool within complaints processes to try to acknowledge the detriment caused. In order to determine whether the amount offered by the landlord was reasonable, the Ombudsman must first determine the period of time in which the resident was without heating and hot water, which in this case was from 12 February 2022 until 15 February 2022. The Ombudsman must also take into account the resident’s vulnerabilities and medical conditions, which the landlord was also aware of.
The landlord did not break down how it calculated the £580 compensation within its stage 1 response, but there are records which show that it offered £380 for the service failure, broken down as:
1. £200 time and effort
2. £40 inconvenience
3. £40 distress.
4. £40 missed appointments.
5. £10 raising the call,
6. £50 right to repair
The amount offered is in line with the landlord’s compensation policy as well as the Ombudsman’s guidance, which recommends amounts of between £100 and £600, when there has been a failure which adversely affected the resident. As the amount is in the higher end of the recommended award bracket, it is determined that the landlord took into the account the resident’s circumstances when calculating the compensation award for the period.
In summary, it is clear that the landlord failed to respond to the resident’s reports of no heating of hot water in line with its policy and this amounts to maladministration. The resident is vulnerable and to be without heating and hot water in the winter months for any amount of time caused her distress and was further exacerbated by her having to chase the landlord.
However, based on the information provided, the Ombudsman is satisfied that its decision to offer £380 compensation in recognition of the distress and inconvenience was reasonable redress in these circumstance s.

The landlord’s handling of the replacement boiler.

When the resident escalated her complaint to stage 2 on 11 April 2022, she informed the landlord that she wanted a new boiler to be installed as she had had so many issues with the current boiler. The resident further explained why the need for a working boiler was so important. Based on the information provided, the landlord took action and internal emails were sent informing the relevant department of her request.
The landlord agreed on the same day that it would replace the boiler and gave the resident the option of having its current contract replace the boiler, or the landlord’s new contractor, when its contract started in May 2022. The resident agreed to wait until the new contractor started and the landlord raised an order for the new contractor accordingly and the new contractor attended on 5 May 2022 and carried out a full boiler survey and the boiler was subsequently fitted on 5 October 2022.
The resident says that she remains dissatisfied with the landlord’s handling of the replacement boiler, as once the boiler had been fitted there was an issue with the way that it was installed which resulted in her being without heating and hot water for approximately 100 hours over 8 days. Furthermore, in December 2023 the resident confirmed that she had issues with the boiler approximately 3 months after it was installed.
While the landlord’s repair records do show that a priority job was raised for no heating or hot water on 13 October 2022, which was completed on 14 October 2022 at 9.12am, there is no other indication that there was an issue with the install other than the resident’s communication with the Ombudsman.
There are records which show that the landlord followed up with the contractor to check that the boiler had been installed, to which it received a reply but the landlord was not informed that there had been any issues. This may indicate an issue with the contractors record keeping and as such a recommendation has been made at the end of this report.
While the landlord agreed to replace the boiler in an effort to put things right for the resident and try to rebuild the resident and landlord relationship, the distress the resident experienced following the installation should not be overlooked.
The resident was clear that she wanted a new boiler because of the number of issues she had with her old boiler and the impact this had on her. The resident explained that her medical conditions meant that she needed heating and hot water and she was frustrated by having to chase the landlord and contractor when there were issues.
When the landlord agreed to replace the boiler, it would not be unreasonable for the resident to expect to not have any further issues with her heating and hot water for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately the resident says that this did not happen and continued to have issues for approximately 3 months.
The Ombudsman would have expected to see records to show that the landlord was effectively monitoring the install of the new boiler and carrying out a post inspection to ensure that the boiler was working as it should have been. There is no indication that this happened, which resulted in the resident experiencing further issues. This caused additional and unnecessary distress to the resident and further inconvenience in having to report issues as early as a week after a new boiler was installed.
The landlord does not specifically address the issues with the new boiler within its stage 2 response, but it does offer the resident £100 compensation in line with the right to repair guidelines. There is no evidence to show that the resident reported any further issues with her boiler between April and October 2022, and therefore it is reasonable to assume that this amount was offered in recognition of the issues she experienced with her new boiler between 5 and 13 October 2022.
The right to repair guidelines suggest that an initial payment of £10 should be made for a repair which remains outstanding for 5 days, and an additional £2 per day should be made after. If the resident was without heating and hot water from 5 October until 14 October 2022, the resident would be entitled to £18, so an offer of £100 is significantly more than this.
Although the amount is higher than the right to repair guidelines, the Ombudsman does not feel that this reflects the distress and inconvenience experienced as a result of her new boiler breaking so soon after it was installed. The resident confirms that she continued to report issues, which led to multiple visits from the contractor at various times of the day and night to try and fix the boiler.
The additional distress and inconvenience experienced by the resident could have been avoided if the landlord had a robust process in place to ensure that it followed up with the contractor and resident when the boiler was installed and ensured that the boiler was working effectively from the day it was installed.
In summary there was maladministration and in recognition of this and in line with the Ombudsman’s guidance, an order has been made for the landlord to pay the resident £550, which includes the £100 offered as part of the stage 2 response.

The landlord’s complaint handling.

In line with the landlord’s complaint policy, it acknowledged the resident’s complaint within 1 day and said it would respond by 31 January 2022. However, the landlord failed to adhere to this, which promoted the resident to contact the Ombudsman on 15 February 2022 for assistance in progressing her complaint.
The Ombudsman contacted the landlord and asked for it to respond to the resident and address her complaint, primarily about her boiler which had broken down 3 times in the last 6 weeks and had been ongoing since 2014.
The Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code), point 5.6 specifies that landlord’s must address all points raised in the complaint and provide clear decisions, referencing the relevant policy, law and good practice where appropriate. While it would not have been unreasonable for the landlord to conclude that it was not going to investigate all issues experienced within the last 8 years, the landlord should have provided the resident with a response regarding this.
Following the stage 2 escalation, the landlord did address, within its final response, the resident’s additional complaint regarding the landlord’s handling of the new boiler install, but failed to address all points that resident raised, which included:
1. Her request for additional compensation for the issues she experienced since 2014.
2. Her request for a dedicated member of staff and telephone number, should her boiler break down again.
3. Telephone calls and complaints went unanswered.
The response also did not provide any real investigation as to whether it had complied with its own policies or procedures, and whether it had identified any service failure. The response simply detailed the events which led to the boiler being installed. The response also failed to acknowledge the issues the resident experienced between 5 and 13 October 2022, nor did it detail how it was going to learn from any failures it may have identified.
In addition to the landlord’s failure to address the resident’s complaint in full, the landlord also failed to respond to the resident’s stage 1 and 2 complaint within its documented timescales. It took the 42 days for the stage 1 response to be provided and 185 days for the stage 2 response and the responses were also not provided until the Ombudsman intervened on behalf of the resident.
The landlord appropriately acknowledged that there had been failures with responding and offered the resident £200 compensation at stage 1 and £155 compensation at stage 2. Whilst the amounts offered are in line with the landlord’s compensation policy, the Ombudsman does not believe that this fully reflects the distress and inconvenience the resident experienced as a result of the delay and failure to respond to all her complaint points.
The Ombudsman’s remedies guidance recommends that where there has been maladministration which adversely affects a resident and the landlord has made an offer which is not proportionate to the failings identified, payments of between £100 and £600 are recommended. As detailed the landlord did identify that it failed to respond within a timely manner, but failed to acknowledge that it did not fully address the resident’s complaint.
The Ombudsman also provided clear communication to the landlord, detailing what it should address, which the landlord failed to consider at both stage 1 and stage 2 of its process. Therefore, the landlord is ordered to make a payment of £500 to the resident, which includes the £355 offered at stage 1 and 2.

Determination

In accordance with 53(b) of the Housing Ombudsman’s Scheme, there was reasonable redress with the landlord’s handling of the residents reports of no heating and hot water.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration with the landlord’s handling of the replacement boiler.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration with the landlord’s complaint handling.

Orders and recommendations

The landlord is ordered to write to the resident and formally apologise for the failures identified within this report.
The landlord is ordered to make a payment of £1430, within 4 weeks of the date of this determination. The payment includes the £835 offer made at stage 2 and is made up of:
1. £380 for the failures identified with dealing with the reports of no heating or hot water.
2. £550 for the failures identified with the handling of the replacement boiler.
3. £500 for the failures identified with the landlord’s complaint handling.
The landlord is ordered to write to its contractor within 4 weeks of the date of this report and ensure it is aware of the resident’s vulnerabilities and her need for a priority appointment. The landlord should then write to the resident to confirm the steps it has taken and what the resident can expect should her boiler develop an issue in the future.
The landlord is ordered to carry out a post inspection of the newly installed boiler within 4 weeks of the date of this determination to ensure that the boiler is working effectively and any making good is complete.
It is also recommended that the landlord ensures that its contractor keeps detailed records of any visits that it makes to resident’s homes and ensures that it is able to provide the landlord with these if they are needed.
It is also recommended that the landlord review its processed for ensuring that contractors, including its out of hours providers are aware of the priority needs of its residents.