Home Group Limited (202203691)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202203691

Home Group Limited

24 February 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 practise 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 handling of:
   1. Repairs to the resident’s boiler.
   2. The associated complaint.

Background

2. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord.
3. The resident reported a total loss of heating and hot water on 14 January 2022. She was without a functioning boiler and thereby without heating and hot water for approximately five months. During that period, the landlord’s contractors reported that they were unable to gain access to the property on multiple occasions, although the resident disputes this, stating that she had attended the property for every booked appointment.
4. On 21 January 2022 the landlord’s contractors identified the issue with the boiler but it required new parts to be ordered. The repairs were completed on 10 June 2022 which restored the heating and hot water to full working order.
5. The resident’s complained as she wanted compensation for the delay in repairing her boiler, for the time and trouble spent trying to resolve the issue with the landlord, and for the missed appointments she had experienced. She added that the landlord’s handling of the issue had affected her mental and physical health, and she wished for the landlord to take this into consideration when looking at compensation.
6. The landlord issued an apology to the resident, acknowledging the delay in its repair to the boiler. It offered a total compensation amount of £565, and gave its liability insurer’s contact details for the resident to raise a personal injury claim should she wish to do so. The compensation total is broken down as follows:
   1. £75 for time and trouble spent pursuing the issue
   2. £75 for a lack of communication and mis-communication throughout her complaint
   3. £100 for repair delays
   4. £75 in recognition of the inconvenience this issue had caused the resident
   5. £150 for the loss of heating and hot water and recognised service failure
   6. £55 for delay in issuing its stage one response
   7. £35 for the delay in issuing its stage two complaint response.
7. The resident remained dissatisfied with the level of compensation offered and feels the landlord should increase the amount given the length of time it took to resolve the issue. She also raised concerns about the landlord’s complaint handling. The resident would like for the landlord to explain why its contractors missed several appointments, and wanted an assurance that the dispute in relation to its contractor’s attendance would not happen again.
8. She asked for additional compensation to reflect the time that she was without a functioning boiler, for the landlord to consider changing its contractor if the contractor  was found to be at fault, and wished to know what measures the landlord would put in place to prevent this issue from re-occurring in the future.

Assessment and findings

Scope of Investigation

9. The resident requested, in her communications with this Service, that, if the landlord’s contractors were found to be at fault for the boiler repair delays, the landlord would consider a change of contractor. In accordance with paragraph 42(i) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, this Service cannot consider complaints that relate to terms of employment, or other personal issues. As a result, this aspect of the resident’s complaint is excluded from the Ombudsman’s investigation.
10. The resident has said her physical and mental health has been affected by the landlord’s handling of the boiler repair. The Ombudsman does not doubt the resident’s comments regarding her health. However, this Service is unable to draw conclusions on the cause of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. However, this Service can consider the general distress and inconvenience the issue has caused the resident as well as the landlord’s response to the resident’s concerns about her health. The resident may be able to make a personal injury claim against the landlord, if she considers that her health has been affected by its actions and the Ombudsman notes that the landlord has advised her of how to make a claim.

Policies and procedures

11. In accordance with section 3.8 of the resident’s tenancy agreement, the landlord is required to attend emergency repairs, and make safe the repair within 24 hours. It is to complete emergency repairs within 7 calendar days. The landlord’s website describes an emergency repair as repairs which threaten the health or safety of a resident, or place them in immediate danger.
12. In accordance with the landlord’s complaints, compliments, and comments policy, it is expected to acknowledge a complaint within five working days, and respond within ten working days. When a complaint is escalated, it is required to issue a stage two complaint response within 20 working days from the date of the escalation request.
13. In accordance with its property management policy, the landlord is able to make discretionary payments as a form of compensation, where repairs have not been completed satisfactorily, or within its pre-defined timescales within its repair obligations.

The landlord’s handling of the repair to the resident’s boiler

14. It is not disputed that the landlord was responsible for the repairs to the boiler. It did not, for the most part, respond in accordance with its repair obligations following the resident’s report of a total loss of heating and hot water. While there remains a dispute concerning several missed appointments, the landlord ultimately agreed that there were delays and a general lack of communication throughout its handling of the issue.
15. While the repairs records show numerous attempts were made to resolve the issue between 15 January 2022 and 10 June 2022, it ultimately took the landlord approximately five months to find a permanent solution, which caused considerable distress and inconvenience to the resident. This was further exacerbated by the fact that the loss of boiler occurred during the winter months, and that the resident reported several missed appointments to the landlord.
16. When there are acknowledged failings by a landlord, the Ombudsman’s role is to consider whether the redress offered by the landlord was sufficient to put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily. This is in accordance with the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles: to be fair, put things right and learn from the outcomes.
17. In this case the landlord did look to put things right by acknowledging, and apologising for its failings in not rectifying the issue in a timely manner. It had also looked to put things right by acknowledging the distress and inconvenience this had caused the resident, offering compensation considering its service failure, compensating for its lack of communication throughout the complaint, and restoring the boiler to full working order on 10 June 2022. While it demonstrated some learning by acknowledging where it did not meet its service expectations, it did not look to show its learning outcomes as a result from the resident’s complaint. This was a failure by the landlord.
18. Also, although the landlord offered compensation, its final offer of compensation of £565, was not proportionate in view of the distress and inconvenience the resident experienced. The landlord was expected to treat the boiler repair as an emergency and attend within 24 hours, in line with its Repairs Policy because the issue occurred during the Winter months. According to its records, the landlord had attended the following day at 11.17am but could not gain access to the property, although the resident disputes this and says she was present and did not refuse access.
19. While the landlord had provided evidence to show its contractors’ attendance in its repair logs on this occasion, the next appointment was not until 24 January 2022, 10 calendar days after the boiler issue was first reported. The appointment should have been rescheduled sooner, particularly given the landlord’s obligations to make safe the boiler, and the potential risks this involved, as well as the distress this caused the resident.
20. Where residents experience a total loss of heating, it is considered best practice to ensure that the resident has a temporary, alternative heating source as soon as possible. This is especially important in the winter months, and if repairs are delayed for any considerable amount of time, such as ordering parts or contractor availability as in this case. The landlord only offered temporary heaters on 30 May 2022. This was an unreasonably long delay in providing alternative heating to the property, some four months later than when first reported. It is important that landlords issue alternative heating sources within 24 hours (where possible) of reporting a total loss of heating, if unable to restore the heating utility. Especially as they would only be sufficient over a short period of time as their ability to heat a whole property would be limited.
21. The landlord should have kept the resident updated concerning the progress of the repair. The evidence suggests that the landlord advised the resident that parts had to be ordered on 24 January 2022 but there was a lack of updates thereafter. While the landlord’s records show that it had chased for these parts on 27 February 2022, there was no records showing that the landlord had successfully contacted the resident until 12 May 2022, some four months later than when first reported. This had resulted in the resident chasing the landlord for an update on when she could expect the works to be completed, as the landlord had failed to set the resident’s expectations.

It is reasonable that there were some delays while the landlord rebooking appointments due to its contractor’s availability. But there was no evidence to suggest this had been explained to the resident. It was found the landlord had also cancelled the appointment booked for 30 May 2022 to carry out repairs, as two contractors were required to attend the property, though this too is not clear if it made the resident aware of this. The resident had reported a total of six missed appointments to the landlord as part of her complaint on 24 May 2022, raising concerns that she had booked time off work to do so. In accordance with its contractor’s records, the landlord had no– access appointments on the following dates: 15 January, 23, 30 March, and 11 May 2022. While it was understood that the landlord disputes this, the resident reported that she had allowed access to the property on every appointment date she had received, stating that on several occasions she had to wait in her car, or within the cold property for up to five hours at a time.

22. While it was reasonable the landlord apologised for its lack of communication with the resident, and had offered compensation of £75, ultimately it did not offer an explanation in line with its contractors records and the resident’s concerns over these appointments. Additionally, the landlord’s records were not clear if it had attended, or attempted to contact the resident when listing several appointments as no access, which was unreasonable given the resident’s assurances that she had attended the property and the subsequent frustration this would have caused her.
23. It is vital that landlords keep detailed, accurate and easily accessible records to provide an audit trail, yet this was not forthcoming in this case. If there is disputed evidence and no audit trial, we may not be able to conclude that an action place, or the landlord followed its policies or procedures. As there is insufficient evidence in the landlord’s records, and as the onus would be on the landlord to provide this, considering the evidence provided, the Ombudsman cannot conclude that the disputed appointments were missed due to the resident not allowing access. Therefore, these missed appointments have been considered when assessing compensation.
24. The landlord should pay additional compensation of £200, which has been calculated using this Service’s Remedies Guidance (published on our website) which sets out the Ombudsman’s approach to compensation. The compensation is broken down as follows:
    1. £50 for the five missed appointments, calculated at £10 per appointment given the landlord’s compensation policy falls silent on this matter;
    2. £100 additional compensation for the landlord’s delays in providing suitable temporary heating;
    3. £50 compensation in respect of the landlord’s failings on its record keeping.
25.  The landlord should also review its staff training in relation to its repairs policy, to ensure that all reports, or repairs of a loss of heating and hot water are responded to in its published repair timescales, and that temporary space heaters are provided, where appropriate, at the earliest opportunity moving forward. It should also consider reviewing its staff training in respect of its record keeping, and to ensure that all contractors are filling out adequate information in regard to its attendance to respective repair appointments moving forward.

Complaint handling

26. The landlord has acknowledged that there were failings in its complaint handling. In it stage one complaint response, dated 29 June 2022, the landlord offered £55 compensation for delays to resolving the resident’s complaint. This was subsequently increased to £90 in its stage two response, dated 02 September 2022, with a further apology for the delay in its responses.
27. In accordance with its complaints, compliments, and comments policy, the landlord was required to acknowledge and respond to the resident’s complaint, dated 7 April 2022, within five working days and issue its stage one response within ten working days. Upon receipt of an escalation for stage two, it is required to respond within 20 working days. However, according to its records, the landlord did not acknowledge the resident’s complaint until 12 May 2022, 23 working days after it was raised, which was an unreasonable delay.  The landlord had advised the resident on this date that it would aim to respond within eight weeks to her complaint dated 7 April 2022, giving itself until 2 June 2022 to respond by. The landlord issued its stage one complaint response on 29 June 2022, some 55 working days later, and had responded to the resident’s stage two escalation, dated 15 July 2022, on 02 September 2022, some 35 working days later.
28. While the landlord had acknowledged its failings in not meeting its published timescales to respond to a complaint, there were significant delays in its responses at both stages of its internal complaints procedure. The landlord had not fully kept the resident aware of the delays in responding to her complaint but had attributed it to a backlog of complaints and repairs being carried out. This was unreasonable, as it is the established view of this Service that landlords should respond to complaints in a timely manner, and it is not necessary to wait for repairs to be completed before responding to a complaint. A complaint response can be issued whilst repairs are outstanding, and compensation can be awarded for any delays which have taken place or are expected to take place, based on the proposed completion date for any outstanding repairs. The significant delays in responding to the resident’s complaint would have been inconvenient for the resident, as it prevented her from being able to refer her complaint to the Ombudsman sooner for independent review. It had also resulted in the resident chasing the landlord for an update, and raising additional complaints in relation to her boiler on 24 and 28 May 2022. This has been considered when assessing the landlord’s overall offer of compensation.
29. In light of the landlord’s complaint handling failures, the landlord’s offer of £90 compensation for complaint handling was inadequate to put matters right for the resident. The landlord is to pay additional £150 compensation, bringing the total compensation for complaint handling to £240. This amount is in line with the Ombudsman’s Remedies Guidance (published on our website) which suggests compensation awards in this range in cases where he landlord has acknowledged failings and made some attempt to put things right but the offer was not proportionate to the failings identified by our investigation.

Determination

30. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration found in the landlord’s handling of the repair to the resident’s boiler.
31. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in respect of its complaint handling

Orders and recommendations

32.The landlord is ordered to:

1. Pay the resident directly a total of £915 compensation broken down as follows:
   1. £565 already offered by the landlord in its complaint responses if not already paid to the resident;
   2. £100 for the landlord’s delays in providing alternative temporary space heaters;
   3. £50 for the landlord’s missed appointments;
   4. £50 in respect of the failing on the landlord’s record keeping;
   5. £150 in respect of the landlord’s complaint handling failure.
2. The above amount is inclusive of the £565 already offered by the landlord on 2 September 2022. If this amount has been paid, the amount the landlord has to pay would be £350.
3. To review its staff training in relation to its repairs policy, to ensure that all emergency and urgent repairs are carried out within its published timescales, and ensure that all cases of a loss of heating are provided with alternative temporary space heaters within a timely manner moving forwards.

33. The landlord is recommended to:
    1. Review its staff training in respect of its compliments, complaints and compensation policy, and self-assess this against the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code. This is available at: https://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/landlords-info/complaint-handling-code/.
    2. Review its staff training in relation to its record keeping, to ensure that all contractors and staff are recording appointments and actions following a missed or attended appointment moving forwards.

34. The landlord shall contact this Service within four weeks to confirm that it has complied with the above orders, and whether it will follow the above recommendations.