Saxon Weald (202002242)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202002242

Saxon Weald

19 March 2021

Our approach

Under our early resolution process, the Ombudsman works with the resident and landlord to explore the issues in dispute, identify the matters that remain outstanding and assist in reaching an agreed settlement.

The complaint

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of insufficient hot water supply, delays associated with repairs and an increase in the resident’s electricity bills.

Determination (decision)

In accordance with paragraph 55 (c) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress to the complainant which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.

How the complaint was resolved

The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord. The tenancy started on 09 December 2019.

On 12 December 2019, the resident reported to the landlord issues with the hot water supply and the water tank at the property.

A formal complaint was submitted to the landlord on 06 March 2020. The resident raised issues about cancelled appointment in February 2020 related to the heating and the hot water, ongoing issues with the hot water and the delays in dealing with it, and the increase in the resident’s electricity bills.

The landlord responded on 09 March 2020, explaining the appointment for the heating in February 2020 has been cancelled by the resident, a temporary repair to the hot water was carried out on 24 December 2019. It identified on 24 February 2020 that the water tank needed replacing.

The resident escalated their complaint on 13 March 2020, stating that they were not satisfied with the landlord’s response. The resident explained that nothing had been temporarily repaired on 24 December 2019. The resident confirmed the landlord had replaced the water tank in March 2020, which is 3 months after the initial report. However, the resident was dissatisfied with the landlord’s poor communication in relation to the hot water and heating issue. The resident raised concerns that the landlord had not identified the water tank needed replacement at an earlier stage and the landlord had not considered the increased energy bills during the three months period between the initial reports of the hot water issues and the replacement of the water tank.

The landlord responded on 29 April 2020 at the final stage if its complaint’s process. It assured the resident that its system showed the appointment in February 2020 was cancelled by the resident. The landlord confirmed that on its system there was also evidence that an electrician attended the property on 24 December 2019, checked the timer of the hot water and provided guidance on how the resident to manually override the system in order to turn the hot water on and off. The landlord further explained that the replacement of the water tank had been identified as part of a boiler breakdown repair which had been reported on 13 February 2020. It was only able to replace the water tank after completing other works to the boiler. The tank was replaced on 09 March 2020, 10 days after identifying the issue with it. The landlord further considered that the installation of the new tank should not have any effect on the electricity bill. Furthermore, the electrician who attended on 24 December had provided guidance to the resident on the manual use of the system in order for them to get the best use of it. The landlord explained it had also booked an appointment for 25 March 2020 for an electrician to advice on how to best use the new system in future. However, this was cancelled due to the pandemic outbreak. The landlord confirmed that this appointment would be rebooked once normal works could resume. 

The resident brought the complaint to the Housing Ombudsman on 19 November 2020 stating that they were dissatisfied with the landlord’s handling of the repair and with the landlord’s response to their reports of increased electricity bills.

Following further correspondence with the resident, they agreed to participate in our mediation process. The resident was seeking  compensation of £500.00 as  resolution to their complaint.

We forwarded the mediation request on 08 February 2021 and following further correspondence, on 17 March 2021 the landlord agreed to offer the compensation the resident was seeking through the mediation process.

Paragraph 55 (c) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states that:

1. “At any time, the Ombudsman may determine the investigation of a complaint immediately if satisfied that the member has made an offer of redress following the Ombudsman’s intervention which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily. This will result in a finding of ‘resolved with intervention’.”

I am therefore satisfied, following the intervention of this Service, that the landlord has now taken actions to remedy the matters raised which resolve the complaint satisfactorily.

Recommendation

The landlord to arrange for the payment of £500.00 compensation to be made to the resident within the next four weeks, and provide evidence to this Service.

The Ombudsman would like to thank the parties for participating in our mediation process. This case is now closed.