Clarion Housing Association Limited (202102565)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202102565

Clarion Housing Association Limited

23 August 2021

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 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:
1. handling of the resident’s request for repairs to his bedroom radiator.
2. associated complaint handling.

Background and summary of events

Policies and procedures

Section 5 of the tenancy agreement between the resident and the landlord confirms that it is responsible for the supply of heating to the property.
The landlord’s repairs and maintenance policy confirms that non-emergency repairs are to be completed within 28 days, with a focus on the time to complete the repairs, and to try to fix it first time around.
As per appendix 2 of the landlord’s compensation policy, residents who are left with no heating because of an outstanding repair, can be paid £5 per day during the winter months.
Section 5.4 of the landlord’s compensation policy confirms a maximum compensation award of £50 per delayed repair.
Under the terms of the tenancy agreement between the resident and the landlord, the resident agrees to allow contractors to enter the property to carry out inspections and repairs.
The landlord’s complaints policy details a 10-working day timescale for a stage one complaint response, and a 20-working day response for final stage complaint responses.

Background

The resident is a tenant of the landlord, living in a flat.

Summary of events

On 28 September 2020, the landlord’s records confirm that the resident had reported that three radiators were not working in his property. The landlord attended on 1 October 2020 but could not gain access to the property.
On 7 October 2020, the landlord’s records confirm it had attended the resident’s property but could not gain access.
On 14 October 2020, the landlord’s records confirm that it passed the repair job back to its housing team as it could not gain access to the property.
On 26 October 2020, the landlord’s records confirm that the resident raised concerns over his bedroom radiator not working. It attended the resident’s property on 5 November 2020, but it “did not see a problem with the bedroom radiator”; although the resident suggested to the operative that the radiator valve needed to be changed.
On 9 November 2020, the landlord’s records confirm that the resident reported that his bedroom radiator was still not working.
On 17 November 2020, the landlord’s records confirm that it had attended the resident’s property but could not gain access.
On 26 November 2020, the landlord’s records confirm that it had attended the resident’s property and determined that the radiator valve needed to be replaced.
On 4 December 2020, the resident raised a complaint to the landlord. This Service has not been provided with a copy of this complaint.
On 5 December 2020, the landlord’s records confirm that it attended to fit the replacement valve on the radiator in the resident’s bedroom.
On 29 December 2020, the landlord issued its stage one complaint response to the resident, which is summarised as follows:
1. Following its investigation in the repair to the resident’s bedroom radiator, it had found that the contractor was supposed to have replaced the valve “23 months ago “; however, it had closed the job accidentally.
2. Its contractor had confirmed that it had attended on 15 December 2020 and successfully fitted a new valve to the radiator.
3. It had identified its failure to complete the timely repair to the resident’s bedroom radiator and offered him £150 compensation for the delay in completing the repair.
On 8 January 2021, the resident submitted a further complaint to the landlord. This Service has not been provided with a copy of this complaint.
On 18 February 2021, the landlord’s records confirm that it attended to inspect all of the radiators in the resident’s property. The resident confirmed during this visit that he was happy with the work carried out.
On 26 February 2021, the landlord issued its final stage complaint response to the resident, stating the following:
1. It had acted on the reports of heating issues to three radiators but could not gain access to the property. When the resident contacted the landlord to raise a further repair report, this was only in relation to his bedroom radiator. Therefore, it did not see any service failure regarding its handling of the resident’s concerns over other radiators in the property.
2. It had since completed the repairs; this having been confirmed during its inspection of 18 February 2021, and with the resident having confirmed that he was satisfied with the repairs.
3. It recognised that the resident wanted £1,000 compensation for the delays. In addition to the £150 compensation it had already offered for the delayed repair, it offered a further £100 for the inconvenience experienced by the resident, and a further £50 for its delayed complaint response. This resulted in a total compensation offer of £300.

Assessment and findings

Handling of the resident’s request for repairs to his bedroom radiator.

The main element of the resident’s complaint is regarding the delay in the replacement of the valve to the resident’s bedroom radiator. This Service has not been provided with the specific date that the repair was first requested by the resident, although the landlord acknowledged in its stage one complaint response that this had been outstanding for “23 months”. This is significantly longer than its target timescales for such repairs, as detailed in paragraph 3 above. During this time, the resident had no heating to his bedroom. This service has seen nothing to suggest that the resident had requested temporary heating during this time; the landlord did not offer one as it was not aware the job had not been completed. The landlord should have had accurate records of repairs and whether these repairs had or had not been carried out, and not having accurate records of this is a service failure by the landlord.
The landlord identified the significant delay in the fitting of the valve during its stage one complaint investigation, and it explained to the resident what went wrong It also apologised. It was reasonable for the landlord to apologise and offer compensation, however overall the compensation was not sufficient as detailed further below.
It is noted that further delay was caused by the landlord’s operative being unable to identify that the valve needed to be replaced on the radiator, during its visit of 5 November 2020. It is understandable that this could have caused further distress and inconvenience to the resident, particularly as the resident had told the operative that the valve needed to be changed. This also caused an unnecessary further delay in carrying out the required work.
There were also some delays due to the landlord being unable to gain access to the property. In accordance with the tenancy agreement as detailed in paragraph 6. the resident was expected to allow the landlord access to carry out the necessary inspection or repair to address the resident’s concerns. While there may be legitimate reasons why residents may be unable to allow access for pre-arranged appointments, the landlord would not be responsible for any delays this may cause to repairs.
There has been some mention of the resident experiencing issues with other radiators in the property. The evidence we have seen suggests the resident confirmed to the landlord in his complaint that his bedroom radiator was the only one that was not working. Therefore, it was appropriate for the landlord to focus on its response to the concerns raised about the one radiator in the resident’s home.
The landlord offered the resident £250 for this aspect of his complaint. It is unclear whether it has followed its compensation policy; for example, it does not confirm whether the landlord has considered the broken radiator to be a loss of amenity, and offer compensation in line with its policy as detailed in paragraph 4 above. However, overall the landlord’s offer was not sufficient to address its failings with regards to this complaint.
As per this Service’s remedies guidance (published on our website), compensation awards from £250 to £700 may be awarded where considerable service failure has been found, but there may be no permanent impact on the resident. Examples could include:
1. Failure to address repairs in accordance with its policy.
2. The landlord not taking responsibility for sub-contracted services.
3. The impact experienced by the resident could include distress, inconvenience, time and trouble.
As per the landlord’s compensation policy, the following awards are suitable:
1. As per paragraph 4, it is appropriate for the landlord to recognise the loss of heating to the resident’s bedroom, with an award of £1 per day, for two heating seasons which are from October through until March. This is a total of 364 days.
2. £50 for the delayed repair, this being the maximum permitted under its policy detailed in paragraph 5.
3. Therefore, the landlord is ordered below to pay the resident direct financial compensation of £564, which is appropriate to this Service’s above guidance, and to reflects the inconvenience and distress the resident experienced s a result of delays caused by the landlord.
The resident has asked for £1,000 in compensation for this complaint, and he has referenced a previous complaint to the landlord which has not been referred to this Service. In assessing the appropriate level of compensation where service failure has been found, this Service would use the landlord’s own relevant policies and procedures, along with our own remedies guidance, to establish a suitable level of compensation.

Associated complaint handling.

As per the landlord’s complaints policy, it will provide a stage one complaint response within 10 working days. The landlord responded to the resident’s complaint of 4 December 2020, on 29 December 2020; this was 15-working days, meaning its response was issued outside this timescale.

In respect to the resident’s final stage complaint of 8 January 2020, the landlord responded on 26 February 2021. This meant it responded within 35 working days; this being significantly outside of its published timescales for complaint handling.
It is noted that the landlord has recognised the delay in its response and has offered £50 compensation to the resident in view of this. This Services considers this offer to be fair in respect of this aspect of the complaint, and in line with our own remedies guidance, which recommends awards in this range where there has been service failure resulting in some impact on the complainant which was of short duration and may not have significantly affected the overall outcome of the complaint.

Determination (decision)

In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in way it responded to the resident’s request for repairs to his bedroom radiator.
In accordance with paragraph 55(b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has offered redress to the resident prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint in respect of its associated complaint handling satisfactorily.

Reasons

The landlord has acknowledged it had failed to respond appropriately to the resident’s request for repair to his bedroom radiator, with this having taken some 23 months to complete, for which it has apologised.

The landlord’s offer of compensation was not adequate in addressing its failings in dealing with the resident’s request for a repair to his bedroom radiator and the long delays in dealing with this. The landlord is therefore ordered to pay additional compensation to the resident, as detailed below.
The landlord failed to provide a timely response to the resident’s stage one and final stage complaint. It has acknowledged these failings and provided appropriate compensation.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

The Ombudsman orders the landlord to pay the resident £564, consisting of the following:
1. £364 for the loss of use of his bedroom radiator over a prolonged period of time.
2. £50 for the inconvenience caused by the delayed repair
3. £100 compensation for the inconvenience to the resident in having to repeatedly pursue the matter with the landlord.
4. £50 for the inconvenience caused by its delayed complaint responses.
If any compensation payments have already been made to the resident in respect to this complaint, then this is to be deducted from the total quoted above.

Recommendations

It recommended that the landlord:
1. Considers establishing a procedure for it to take proactive steps to communicate with residents about repair works that have been undertaken to the resident’s satisfaction on a more consistent basis, to reduce the likelihood of a similar situation occurring in the future.
2. Review its staff training needs in relation to their application of its complaints procedure in order to seek to prevent a recurrence of its complaint handling delay in the resident’s case in the future. This should include consideration of The Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code at https://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/landlords-info/complaint-handling-code/ and the completion of this Service’s free online dispute resolution training for landlords at https://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/landlords-info/e-learning/, if this has not been done recently.
The landlord shall contact this Service within four weeks of this determination to confirm that it has complied with the above orders, and whether it wishes to comply with the above recommendations.
The Ombudsman accepts that, because of the present restrictions due to the corona virus pandemic, the timing of the above actions will depend on what is reasonable in the light of Government guidance regarding the health of the resident and of the landlord’s staff.