Wandle Housing Association Limited (202303065)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202303065

Wandle Housing Association Limited

30 July 2024

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

The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
1. a repair to the resident’s boiler.
2. the resident’s complaint.

Background

The resident is an assured tenant. He occupies a 1–bedroom flat with his 2 children. The resident said he suffers from an underactive thyroid. The landlord has no record of any vulnerabilities.
The landlord’s contractor serviced the resident’s boiler in February 2023. The contractor identified a serious defect with the boiler. It issued a warning notice to the resident not to use the boiler until it was repaired. After further investigation the landlord informed the resident that a new boiler was needed.
The resident complained to the landlord on 7 March 2023. He said he was unhappy because:
1. he had been without heating and hot water since 17 February 2023
2. it had taken the landlord several appointments to identify the repair
3. the communication from the landlord had been poor and he had to chase the landlord for updates and appointments
4. he had been given 2 electric heaters but these were too expensive to run
5. the situation was affecting his health and wellbeing
The contractor installed the new boiler on 14 March 2023. The contractor completed final tests on the boiler on 16 March 2023.
The landlord sent its stage 1 response on 23 March 2023, which said:
1. it accepted there had been several appointments before the defect was identified
2. it agreed there had been unreasonable delays in dealing with the repair
3. it agreed it had not completed the repairs within a reasonable timescale
4. it apologised for the poor service the resident had received
5. it said it would learn from the mistakes in the case to improve future service
6. it offered compensation of £100 for loss of heating and hot water for 10 days, between 22 December 2022 and 3 March 2023 (£5 per day for each service)
The resident escalated his complaint on 27 March 2023. He said:
1. he had been without heating and hot water for 28 days – between 17 February 2023 and 15 March 2023, not 10 days as stated by the landlord
2. there had been poor communication from the landlord which meant he had to chase for updates
3. the contractor had incorrectly identified the defect at the first appointment, which caused further delay
4. the compensation offered by the landlord was too low as it had not considered the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident
5. the resident considered £15 per day to be a reasonable resolution
The landlord sent its stage 2 response on 6 April 2023. It apologised for not resolving the issue at stage 1 and the error in the dates the resident had been without heating and hot water. It increased its offer of compensation to £280 – (£5 per day for each service for 28 days).
The resident remained dissatisfied because the landlord had failed to consider the distress and inconvenience caused to all his household whilst they had no heating or hot water. In his communication with this service, the resident said he felt the landlord did not care about the impact on his family, especially considering this was in the winter months.

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s handling of the repair to the boiler

The landlord’s repairs and maintenance policy states it is responsible for the heating and hot water supply to the property. The policy states:
1. The complete loss of heating and hot water in the winter months (31 October – 31 March) should be considered as an emergency repair and emergency action may include the provision of temporary heaters.
2. Where practical, it will complete the full repair at the first opportunity. However, it may be necessary to return at a later date to complete a full repair for which an appointment will be made.
3. Where there are urgent category follow on repairs, which would include failure of heating or hot water, the landlord will look to complete these within 7 days.
4. It will minimise the number of visits needed to complete a repair.
5. It will take as little time as possible to complete the repair.
6. It will keep residents informed of progress and any changes.
The resident said that the landlord’s contractor visited him on 17 February 2023 to carry out a routine gas safety check. The contractor informed the resident that the boiler was unsafe and not to use it until the landlord had repaired it.
The Gas Safety Regulations state that if an appliance fails the safety check, the equipment must not be used again until the defect is rectified. It is an offence to use or, allow the use of, any gas appliance which the landlord knows to be unsafe. It was therefore reasonable of the landlord’s contractor to inform the resident not to use the boiler until the defect had been rectified.
The contractor carried out a further inspection of the boiler on 22 February 2023. The contractor informed the resident it would order the required part, which would take up to 5 days and the landlord would be in touch to arrange an appointment for it to complete the repair to the boiler.
The landlord’s policy states that, where there is a complete loss of heating and hot water in the winter months, it may provide temporary heaters. The contractor had advised the resident that the part would take up to 5 days to arrive. It would therefore have been reasonable of the landlord to provide temporary heaters to the resident at this point. It failed to do this which was inappropriate as it was not consistent with its policy.
It would have also been reasonable for the landlord to consider how it could provide hot water whilst the resident was without a boiler. The resident said that he had to go to the gym in order to shower and his children had to stay at their grandparent’s homes overnight, as it was too cold to stay in the property and they had no access to hot water to bathe properly. The landlord did not consider how it could provide the resident with hot water which was unreasonable, especially considering the resident had 2 young children living with him. This was a failure by the landlord.
Having not received any contact, the resident telephoned the landlord to find out when it would attend to repair his boiler. There is no evidence to show when the resident made this call. However, there is a record of the resident reporting another repair to the landlord on 1 March 2023. The resident said the landlord told him that it had not scheduled the appointment for his boiler repair. The landlord arranged this with the resident for 3 March 2023. There was no requirement for the resident to give further notice to the landlord of the repair. The landlord therefore failed to adhere to its repair policy in respect of keeping the resident informed.
On 3 March 2023, the contractor informed the resident that the boiler could not be repaired and a new boiler was required. The contractor said that the landlord would contact the resident to arrange an appointment. The contractor left the resident with 2 temporary heaters. The resident said he could not afford to use the heaters as they were expensive to run. He said he felt he had to choose between heating his property and feeding his children, which added to the resident’s distress. It is the Ombudsman’s opinion that it would have been reasonable for the landlord to discuss contributing towards the cost of running the heaters with the resident. The landlord did not do this which was a failure.
The resident contacted the contractor on 7 March 2023, as he had not received contact from the landlord with a date for the boiler repair. The contractor informed the resident that it had sent a report on 3 March 2023 to the landlord and it was waiting for the landlord to approve the repairs. It was inappropriate that the resident had to contact the contractor himself to obtain an update and was a further failure by the landlord.
There is evidence that the resident telephoned the landlord on 7 March 2023 and asked it to call him back to discuss his repair. There is no evidence to show whether the landlord returned the resident’s call or not, this was a failure by the landlord.
On 10 March 2023, the landlord’s contractor attended the property to complete an inspection before it fitted the new boiler. The contractor fitted the new boiler on 14 March 2023 and the contractor completed all checks by 16 March 2023. The landlord’s contractor completed a post repair inspection on 24 March 2023.
Throughout the complaint, the resident had to repeatedly chase the landlord and its contractor for updates. While the Ombudsman understands that complex repairs may require additional time to complete, there is an expectation that the landlord keeps in communication with the resident and updates them on the progress of the repairs. The landlord’s lack of communication contributed to the delays and added to the resident’s distress because he did not know what was happening with the status of the boiler repair. This likely made the resident feel frustrated and that the landlord was not listening to his concerns.
In his complaint, the resident explained to the landlord how the impact of not having heating and hot water at that time of year was affecting him and his children. He explained that they were having to deal with evening temperatures of between 5 and 2 degrees. His children had to stay away from the property, and had to eat out more because the property was just too cold to be in. Although it was reasonable that the landlord apologised for the inconvenience caused to the resident, it failed to offer any compensation to acknowledge this.
In the Ombudsman’s assessment, there was maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the repair to the boiler, in that:
1. it delayed unreasonably in completing the repair to the resident’s boiler
2. it failed to communicate with the resident which resulted in him having to repeatedly chase the contractor and landlord for updates
3. it misdiagnosed the fault with the boiler on the first appointment, resulting in additional appointments taking place
4. it failed to offer temporary heaters at the earliest opportunity
5. it failed to offer a contribution towards the cost of running the heaters which resulted in the resident not using them at all
6. it failed to provide the resident with assistance in accessing hot water for the duration he was without a boiler
7. it failed to show empathy for the resident’s situation which made the resident feel the landlord did not care
In its complaint response, the landlord acknowledged it had unreasonably delayed repairing the boiler. It offered the resident compensation of £280. Whilst the amount of compensation offered to the resident for having no heating or hot water was reasonable in the circumstances, the landlord failed to compensate the resident for the distress and inconvenience caused to him during the period he was without heating and hot water.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s complaint

The Complaint Handling Code (the Code) (2022) sets out the Ombudsman’s expectations for how landlords should handle complaints. This includes an expectation that landlords will:
1. respond to complaints at stage 1 within 10 working days of the date of the acknowledgment
2. respond to escalations at stage 2 within 20 working days
3. where an extension to the response time is required, landlords should provide an explanation to the resident giving a clear timeframe for when the response will be received
4. address all points raised in the complaint
The resident made his initial complaint on 7 March 2023. The landlord acknowledged the complaint on the same date and provided its stage 1 response on 23 March 2023 which was 13 working days later. The landlord failed to provide an explanation to the resident that it required additional time to respond. This was a failure.
The resident escalated his complaint on 27 March 2023. The landlord provided its stage 2 response on 6 April 2023, which was 9 working days later. This was appropriate as it was consistent with the Code.
In both the initial complaint and escalation, the resident referred to the distress and inconvenience which had been caused because of being without heating and hot water. The landlord failed to appropriately address this in its complaint responses. This was not appropriate as it was not consistent with the Code.
In summary, the Ombudsman concludes that there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the residents complaint, in that it:
1. failed to provide its stage 1 response within 10 working days
2. failed to address all the points raised in the complaint
3. did not offer an appropriate level of redress

Determination

In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the repairs to the boiler.
In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s complaint.

Orders

The landlord must, within 28 calendar days of the date of this determination:
1. provide a full written apology to the resident for the errors identified in this report. This includes causing him to feel like his family did not matter and the impact on his household
2. pay the resident £705 compensation (an additional £425 to that awarded during the complaint procedure). The additional compensation is broken down as follows:
  1. £350 for the distress and inconvenience caused by the delays in completing the repair to the boiler
  2. £75 for the upset caused by the failures identified in its handling of the resident’s complaint

The landlord must pay the compensation directly to the resident. The total compensation (£705) may be reduced by £280 if that has already been paid to the resident.

provide evidence of compliance with the above orders within 28 days.