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Clarion Housing Association Limited (201915800)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 201915800

Clarion Housing Association Limited

1 April 2022


Our approach

What we can and cannot consider is called the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and is governed by the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. The Ombudsman must determine whether a complaint comes within their jurisdiction. The Ombudsman seeks to resolve disputes wherever possible but cannot investigate complaints that fall outside of this. 

In deciding whether a complaint falls within their jurisdiction, the Ombudsman will carefully consider all the evidence provided by the parties and the circumstances of the case.

The complaint

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of repairs to the resident’s boiler.

Determination (jurisdictional decision)

  1. When a complaint is brought to the Ombudsman, we must consider all the circumstances of the case as there are sometimes reasons why a complaint will not be investigated.
  2. After carefully considering all the evidence, I have determined that the complaint, as set out above, is not within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

Summary of events

  1. The resident is a tenant of the landlord. Their complaint concerns issues with their boiler, which they advise began in 2018. The resident reported delays in the landlord’s handling of repairs, as well as distress and inconvenience caused which she requested compensation for.
  2. The resident made a formal complaint to the landlord on 22 January 2020, raising concerns about the time taken to replace their boiler. The landlord issued a Stage One response on 7 February 2020.
  3. The resident copied this service into an email to the landlord on 9 March 2020, in which they requested call logs with the landlord’s contact centre and with the contractor responsible for heating repairs.
  4. The resident then copied this service into an email to their local Councillor on 8 May 2020. The email contained an acknowledgement by the landlord of the resident’s escalation request. The resident advised they were waiting for the landlord’s decision.
  5. This service responded on the 29 May 2020, asking that the resident to advise whether the landlord provided a satisfactory response or to advise whether they remained dissatisfied and required further assistance.
  6. The resident contacted this service on 16 December 2021 and provided a copy of the landlord’s final response, dated 7 June 2020. They advised they remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response.

Reasons

  1. Paragraph 39d of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states that…

‘The Ombudsman will not investigate complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, were brought to the Ombudsman’s attention normally more than 12 months after they exhausted the member’s complaints procedure;’

  1. The landlord issued its final response to the resident’s complaint on 7 June 2020. The resident did not provide a copy of the final response until 16 December 2021, over 18 months after the final response was issued. The Ombudsman does not consider this a reasonable amount of time to refer a complaint to this service and so it is not a matter that can be considered further.
  2. The Ombudsman understands that is likely to be a disappointing outcome for the resident. The resident may wish to seek legal advice if they wish to pursue the matter further.