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Onward Homes Limited (202111994)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202111994

Onward Homes Limited

31 January 2022


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 is about the landlord’s handling of repairs to the resident’s hot water system.

Background and summary of events

2.     The resident is an assured shorthold tenant of the landlord.

3.     The resident initially reported that the water mixer for her shower was not working properly and not supplying hot water on 7 January 2021. An operative attended on 22 January 2021 and fitted a new shower mixer bar to resolve the issue.

4.     On 1 March 2021 the resident contacted the landlord to advise that the shower was still only providing cold water. She believed that there may have been an issue with the electrical switch for the shower. A plumber attended on 5 March 2021 and diagnosed the cause of the problem (faulty immersion heater). The matter could not be resolved on that date. A new appointment was made for 19 March 2021.

5.     The landlord has explained that the repair was not completed on 19 March 2021 as the relevant parts for the repair were not in stock. The resident later said in her complaint to the landlord that an electrician attended the property on 19 March 2021 and cut a wire, at which point she experienced a total loss of hot water throughout the property.

6.     The resident contacted the landlord on 22 March 2021 to ask when the part would arrive and when the repair would be completed. The landlord’s records show that she also said that her solar panels were not heating up the water in her property and asked whether a repair could be raised.

7.     The resident emailed the landlord on 25 March 2021 and asked why a plumber was initially sent when she had informed the landlord that the issue was with the electricity supply to the shower. She asked

“My questions are: How long should i legally be left without hot water in my property as it has been 6 days?…Why have i been left without hot water in the 1st place? When i spoke to the call centre today she offered me £20 compensation that is appalling considering i would normally use £60 of electric per month and i have been using £100 because i am having to press the boost each time i need to bathe, wash dishes etc.”

8.     The landlord responded on the same day asking “With regards to the hot water, please can you confirm for me whether the hot water issue is just with the shower or if it is throughout the entire property? I can see a job for the shower with an electrician has now been booked…however if there is no hot water throughout the property we will need to arrange this for a sooner date.”

9.     The landlord’s records show that an operative attended on 30 March 2021 and replaced parts of the immersion heater. They noted that a further part needed replacing and rectified this on the same day.  

10. There was no apparent response to the landlord’s last email query until 31 March 2021 when the resident reported that she still did not have hot water in the shower despite the repairs which had been carried out. An order was raised on 6 April 2021 as an operative identified that another part of the water system needed to be replaced.

11. An operative attended on 15 April 2021 and found that the hot water was working correctly, but the resident’s concern was that the water in the shower was not hot enough. The operative identified that the type of shower only allowed the water to reach 43 degrees. A further appointment was booked to replace part of the shower on 20 April 2021.  

12. The landlord’s records show that the resident called on 15 April 2021 and expressed dissatisfaction that she had not had access to hot water. She then confirmed that she had no hot water in her shower for ten days but the hot water was working in the rest of the property. The landlord offered £50 compensation for the poor service it had provided but this was declined. The resident advised that she wanted a formal complaint to be raised and a larger amount of compensation.  

13. The landlord’s records show that the shower mixer was replaced on 20 April 2021. This was tested and the water came out hot. A further appointment needed to be booked to replace another part of the water system as previously recommended.

14. The landlord issued its stage one complaint response on 21 April 2021. It detailed the chronology of events and upheld the resident’s complaint on the basis that there had been a number of failed appointments and a delay in resolving the hot water issue. It confirmed that a new appointment had been arranged for 27 April 2021 to replace the final part. It apologised and confirmed that this was not the standard of service it aimed to provide. It offered £150 as a gesture of goodwill.

15. The landlord emailed the resident on 5 May 2021 to apologise that its contractors had not attended the appointment on 27 April 2021. It confirmed that they had attended on 30 April 2021 at which point the repair was completed and the hot water was fully restored. It confirmed that its offer of £150 stood should she wish to accept it.

16. The resident emailed the landlord on 11 May 2021 and expressed dissatisfaction with its response and offer of compensation. She explained the following:

  1. A plumber had initially attended the property on despite her reports that the issue was caused by an electrical fault, meaning that an electrician should attend. She felt that this had caused further delays.
  2. She said that an electrician had attended the property on 19 March 2021 and cut a wire. Following this she had experienced a complete loss of hot water in the property. She had been told at the time that she should be able to use the ‘boost’ button on her hot water system to access hot water. She said that this had not worked and that she had reported the issue via the landlord’s repairs portal on 21 March 2021. She had then called the landlord on 22 March 2021 to find that her correspondence had not been logged or actioned.
  3. She said that the landlord’s offer of compensation was insufficient given amount of time and money she had spent travelling to and from her mother’s home to bathe, and for the time she had taken off work over a two-week period. She added that the issue had impacted her mental health and felt that compensation of £50 per day would be a more appropriate offer.

17. The landlord issued its stage two complaint response to the resident on 17 June 2021. It considered the chronology in its original complaint response, and again apologised that the works had taken longer than anticipated to complete. It added that some of the delays had been exacerbated by the impact of Covid-19. It concluded that the level of compensation it had offered at stage one was reasonable and confirmed that it would offer £150 if the resident wished to accept it. The landlord then provided details of how to escalate her complaint to the Ombudsman if she remained dissatisfied.

18. The resident referred her complaint to this Service as she remained dissatisfied with the level of compensation offered by the landlord. She advised that she had experienced a loss of earnings due to missed appointments and had also incurred additional travel costs as she had travelled to her mother’s house to bathe due to the loss of hot water in her property for ten days. She felt that £50 a day for the distress and inconvenience caused would be more proportionate to resolve her complaint.

Assessment and findings

Policies and procedures

19. The tenancy agreement confirms that the landlord is responsible for repairs needed to the resident’s heating and hot water system. The landlord’s repairs handbook sets out timescales for handling various repairs. Emergency repairs, including those needed where there is a total loss of heating or hot water supply in winter months, should be attended to within four hours. Urgent repairs, including those to heating systems between March and November, should be completed within five working days and routine repairs should be completed within 20 working days.

20. The landlord’s compensation policy states that up to £50 compensation would be payable where a resident has received poor customer service from the landlord. In addition, different amounts of compensation are payable for amount of time taken to fix the fault and the number of appointments required based on the type of repair required respectively. For example, £40 would be payable when a resident experiences a total loss of bathing facilities and has no alternative means of bathing for at least one week. This would increase to £80 if the issue was not resolved within one month. The policy does not account for a resident’s loss of earnings.

The landlord’s handling of repairs to the resident’s hot water system.

21. The landlord acted reasonably by completing the initial repair to the resident’s shower following her report on 8 January 2021 within 20 working days. This timescale was reasonable as the issue was only affecting the resident’s shower and she had alternative washing facilities in order to bathe.

22. The resident expressed concern that a plumber had attended the property despite her report that the loss of hot water to her shower was a result of an electrical issue on 1 March 2021. Whilst her frustration is understandable, the landlord would be entitled to rely on the opinion of its qualified staff and contractors to determine the cause of the issue. As the reported issue was a lack of hot water to the shower, it was not unreasonable for the landlord to send a plumber in the first instance. The plumber identified issues with the immersion heater which were issues that an electrician may not have been able to establish in the first instance.

23. It is noted that the cause of the issue was established on 5 March 2021, however, parts were required to complete the repair and follow-on appointments were required. In her complaint to the landlord and this Service, the resident advised that she experienced a total loss of hot water in the property for ten days from 19 March 2021. Nothing in the evidence provided for this investigation indicates that this was reported to the landlord at the time, or that it was aware that there was a total loss of hot water throughout the property. The resident’s email to the landlord of 25 March 2021 indicates that hot water was available, albeit only by using the booster function (confusingly, the resident later said in her complaint to the landlord that the booster was not working, and that she had reported that. However, none of the repair records note it). The landlord’s response and query to the resident about the hot water shows that it was unaware of any wider problem, and also that if there was it would act more urgently. The next contact from the resident, on 31 March 2021, reported only an issue with the shower hot water. The notes of the resident’s call with the landlord on 15 April 2021 confirm that the problem had been with the shower, rather than a total outage.

24. Based on the evidence provided, the issue with the hot water system appeared to be resolved as of 30 March 2021 when several parts were replaced. It is not disputed that this was outside of the landlord’s timescales for completing this type of repair. Following the resident’s further reports of no hot water in her shower on 31 March 2021, it was established that the shower was working as normal. However, the thermostat capped the temperature of the water at 43 degrees which the resident found insufficient. This issue was rectified on 20 April 2021 which is considered a reasonable timescale given that the resident had access to hot water in the shower albeit considered the temperature insufficient. Following this, a further appointment to replace a part to ensure the water system was running effectively was carried out successfully on 30 April 2021.

25. Where there are acknowledged failings by a landlord, the Ombudsman’s role is to consider whether the redress offered by the landlord put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. In this case, the landlord acknowledged that there had been a number of failed appointments due to parts not being available and a delay in resolving the hot water supply to the shower. The landlord acted fairly in acknowledging its mistake and apologising to the resident. It put things right by resolving the issue and offering £150 compensation.

26. The compensation offered was in line with the Ombudsman’s own remedies guidance which states that amounts in this range are proportionate where there has been service failure which had an impact on the resident but was of short duration and may not have had any long-term effect on the resident. This includes circumstances where there was a failure to meet service standards for actions and responses. The compensation offer was also in line with the landlord’s compensation policy and is proportionate given the ten days the resident was without hot water in the property, the delay in resolving the hot water to the shower and failed appointments during this time. For the reasons set out above, the landlord has made redress to the resident which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.

Determination (decision)

27. In accordance with paragraph 55 (b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress prior to investigation in respect of its handling of the repairs to the resident’s hot water system which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.

Reasons

28. The landlord appropriately acknowledged the service failures in its handling of repairs to the resident’s shower, and offered compensation which is considered proportionate given the inconvenience caused by the lack of hot water to the shower, multiple failed appointments and the overall delay in resolving the issue.