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Midland Heart Limited (202003561)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202003561

Midland Heart Limited

6 January 2021 [Amended 4 June 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 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 concerns the amount of compensation offered by the Landlord to the Resident for the distress and inconvenience caused by the lack of a reliable hot water supply for the period of 96 days.

Jurisdiction

  1. After carefully considering all the evidence and in accordance with paragraph 39(a) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, which says this Service will not take in to consideration any matters or points discussed that did not exhaust the Landlord’s Complaints Procedure first, such as the presence of damp and mould or the amount of time the Landlord took to remedy this, when making a determination.
  2. Should the Resident wish for the above mentioned matters to be investigated, a new complaint needs to be logged with the Landlord and if its response proves unsatisfactory this may be brought to the attention of This Service after the Landlord’s Complaints Process is exhausted.

Background

  1. The Resident is an assured tenant of the Landlord. The property is a two-bedroom flat.

Summary of events

  1. Based on the information and logs provided it has been found that the Resident first contacted the Landlord on 19 February 2020 to report the lack of hot water in the bathroom. This was deemed as a non-emergency and an appointment was booked in for 19 March 2020.
  2. On 26 February 2020 the Resident contacted the Landlord again and this time an emergency appointment was booked in. The contractor attending advised that all taps were working whilst they were onsite on 26 February 2020; however, there was a further note from 28 February 2020 advising that the hot water was working intermittently throughout the property. A further appointment was attended on 3 March 2020 for an unrelated work to be carried out however, the operative also mentioned that “the shower has temperature issues”.
  3. On 4 March 2020 the Resident contacted the Landlord to report the lack of hot water and that the local water utility company had attended and they had identified a leak on the outside of the property.
  4. By 23 March 2020 further appointments and assessments had been carried out at the property and a new shower was fitted; however, the issue was yet to be fixed. On 23 March 2020 it is noted that operatives had attended over ten appointments at the property since 19 February 2020 yet the issue remained unresolved. This was also when the Landlord’s contractors identified the leak on the outside of the property as being the root cause for the first time.
  5. During the numerous contacts made between the Resident and the Landlord, it is also mentioned that there was an issue with damp and mould at the property.
  6. Further appointments have been booked in and attended between 23 March 2020 and the end of June 2020 for the remedial works to be completed. As a result of these appointments, the outside leak that caused the water pressure issue had been fixed along with a number of other outstanding issues throughout the property.
  7. The Resident had mentioned they wished to log a complaint in March 2020, however, the information provided suggests that the Landlord logged her concerns as a formal complaint on 9 June 2020 and provided a response on 18 June 2020.
  8. As per the formal complaint response issued on 18 June 2020, at the time, the main issue regarding the hot water supply to the Resident’s property had been resolved.
  9. In this report it was also specified that the Resident was looking for reimbursement for their water bill and compensation for the distress caused. As an outcome, the Landlord has offered compensation of £200.00 to the Resident. The compensation was to be allocated as below:
    1. £170.00 for the distress caused by the lack of hot water supply;
    2. £30.00 for the costs incurred by the telephone calls the Resident made to the Landlord to resolve these issues.
    3. It was also to be noted that whilst based on the above it appears that the complaint was opened on the 10 June 2020 and the first resolution offer was made on 18 June 2020. Based on the correspondence from the Resident, it appears that a prior offer was made to the Resident, on 8 June 2020. This was for compensation of £118.00.
  10. As the Resident was unhappy with the resolution offered, this complaint was escalated to the second stage and the Landlord carried out a formal review of the outcome, which was issued on 21 July 2020; however, the landlord’s position remained the same following this review.

Assessment and findings

  1. As per its Repairs Policy, the Landlord commits to the following:
    1. Carry out repairs necessary to prevent danger to life and property – this includes a 24 hour emergency repairs service;
    2. Be proactive in identifying repairs during scheduled visits and inspections to properties;
    3. Process repairs accurately and promptly through all stages;
    4. Set target times which take account of the danger to health, safety and security of the customer and/or the building;
    5. Aim to complete most repairs after one visit and make appointments for any follow up visits
  2. The Landlord’s Complaints Policy states:
    1. “Financial compensation is a final option for [the Landlord] and will only be paid in cases where the loss or suffering is considered to warrant such a payment or where the customer has suffered significant inconvenience as a result of [the Landlord] or their contractor’s or agent’s actions.
    2. “Compensation will be limited and in accordance with our Compensation Matrix as appropriate.
    3. “There will be unavoidable delays for us to deliver some agreed actions and services as a result of the Government imposed restrictions following the coronavirus pandemic, for example completing some responsive repairs. We will keep you informed about what these changes will be and the revised timescales however our usual service standards may not always be met. As this is outside of the control of [the Landlord] we will not being issuing compensation for delays where the sole reason for the delay is the coronavirus restrictions”
  3. Based on the above, the Landlord was to visit the property, accurately assess the defects and damages, and book further appointments for the remedial works to be carried out.
  4. However, it is stated that between the months of February to June 2020, the Resident has made 49 calls to the Landlord in regard to this matter.
  5. The contractors attending the property on behalf of the Landlord had failed to identify the root cause of the issue which has led to multiple unnecessary appointments and works being carried out (e.g. the shower was changed twice along with various other parts) and also delayed the repair of the actual defect.
  6. Once the root cause had been identified – this being the defective pipe on the outside of the property which caused the low water pressure leading to lack of hot water – further delays have been caused by the fact that the landlord could not obtain the parts required to be able to carry out the work as their supplier was not available. Based on the logs provided by the Landlord, the root cause of the issue was fixed on 28 May 2020 and other outstanding works relating to the adjoining issues of damp and mould were fully completed by the end of June 2020.
  7. As the Resident was unhappy with the amount of time it had taken the Landlord to carry out the necessary repairs for the hot water supply to be reinstated, and the amount of inconvenience and distress this has caused her, a complaint was logged with the Landlord.
  8. This was responded to and subsequently reviewed in a timely manner. As a resolution to the Resident’s complaint the Landlord offered a written apology, compensation of £200.00, further advice on an adjoining issue that was outside their remit (i.e. faulty water meter), a summary of the works already carried out and works outstanding along with arranging a date for further contact when it was to provide the customer with a date for the repairs to be completed.
  9. Based on the information provided to This Service, it is safe to say that the Landlord has followed its Repairs Policy in terms of booking and attending the appointments. However, it has failed to identify and remedy the defects in a timely and reasonable manner which has led to the Resident being without a reliable hot water supply for an extended period of time.
  10. The Landlord has also followed its Complaints Policy in terms of dealing with the formal complaint in a timely manner. However, it has failed to provide the Resident with an outcome that is satisfactory. Also, whilst the Landlord did provide the Resident with compensation and it advised what certain amounts are for, it had failed to explain to the Resident how this was calculated and why this was reasonable and in line with its Complaints Policy and Compensation Matrix.
  11. It is also to be noted that the Landlord has taken steps towards ensuring this does not happen again as it is stipulated in the complaint response issued on 18 June 2020 that “This has been fed back to the management of this area to ensure they know the impact this has had on you and to ensure that externally we are ensuring an inspection is carried out to prevent this type of delay in the future for our customers”.
  12. Taking into consideration all the notes, logs and correspondence provided to This Service there are certain contradictions in terms of whether the Resident was entirely without hot water supply during the period of time mentioned above or if this was an intermittent occurrence. However, it is safe to conclude that the Resident was without a reliable hot water supply for a period of 96 days. The Landlord does not dispute that it has taken longer than it should have to rectify this issue which has caused the Resident significant distress.
  13. Whilst it is reasonable for the Landlord to have taken longer to complete non-emergency works such as the remedial of the mould and damp, due to extenuating circumstances incurred by the Covid-19 pandemic, it is not reasonable for the Resident to have been left without a necessary amenity such as hot water for this amount of time as this has impacted their quality of life and caused significant inconvenience and distress.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme and based on the evidence brought forward to this Service it is determined that there was service failure by the Landlord in its handling of this complaint.

Reasons

  1. This determination has been made on the basis that despite the Landlord following its policies to book and attend appointments for remedial work to be carried out, it has failed to identify the root cause of the issue and deal with this in a timely manner and this caused avoidable distress and inconvenience to the Resident.
  2. The Landlord has offered compensation for the inconveniences caused and costs incurred by the amount of telephone calls the Resident made however, this is not sufficient considering the amount of time the Resident was left without a necessary amenity.
  3. The Landlord also failed to provide the Resident with an alternative hot water source which has incurred further inconveniences, distress and costs to the Resident as she had to arrange this herself.

Orders

  1. The Landlord is to pay compensation of £388.00 to the Resident as per below:
    1. £100.00 for the delays and distress caused;
    2. £3.00 per day for each day where the Resident did not have a reliable hot water supply; as the Resident was without hot water for a total of 96 days, this amounts to a total of £288.00.
  2. In the absence of the Landlord’s Compensation Matrix the amount of £3.00 per day has been calculated based on the Housing Ombudsman Remedies Guidance and by taking into consideration the costs incurred by the Resident when arranging an alternative hot water supply for hygiene purposes.
  3. The compensation amount of £388.00 is to be paid in full to the Resident within four weeks from this determination. If any compensation has already been paid to the Resident in respect to this matter then the Landlord will pay the difference between the amount paid and the above.

Recommendations

  1. Where possible the Landlord should consider amending its Repairs policy and procedures to include more specific timeframes for repair works to be carried out. This is to provide Residents with a clearer understanding of what will be happening and when and also to manage expectations.
  2. The Landlord should consider including Compensation Matrix in its Complaints Policy or providing a more in-depth explanation of how it calculates the compensation offered following complaints. This is to avoid any future disputes with regard to the amount of compensation that is being offered.