Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council (202003866)

 

 

 

 

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202003866

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council

2 January 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 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 level of compensation the landlord offered for its handling of repairs to the resident’s boiler;
• the landlord’s decision to allocate the resident’s award of compensation to his outstanding rent arrears.

Background and summary of events

Background

1. The resident is a tenant of the landlord and occupies a first-floor bedsit. His tenancy agreement shows that his rent was £73.14 per week at the start of the tenancy on 26 November 2018.
2. The landlord’s repairs and maintenance guide confirms that it is responsible for attending a repair involving a total loss of water heating between 31 October and 1 May as an emergency. This guide states that upon attending an emergency repair within 24 hours and making it safe, it may raise follow on works to be prioritised “in the usual way”.
3. The landlord’s complaints policy provides for a two stage internal complaints procedure, with responses due within ten working days at both stages.
4. The landlord’s compensation and redress scheme states that a claim for out of pocket expense must be supported by evidence. For a complete loss of heating between October and March, compensation is due at 20% of weekly rent pro rata for the duration; this is only applicable when no substitute heaters are provided. For a complete loss of the hot water system 10% of the weekly rent pro rata is to be awarded. This scheme also states that £2 per heater, per day, for up to two heaters is payable for the use of temporary electric heaters pending full repair/replacement of the heating system.
5. The landlord’s compensation and redress scheme states that, if there is any outstanding housing debt owed to the landlord, any compensation award will be offset against the debt, with any remaining balance to be paid to the resident.

Summary of events

6. The landlord capped the resident’s gas supply on 19 May 2018 due to discovery of an “immediately dangerous” situation. He was not present for this and the landlord left a gas warning and advice notice at the property.
7. The landlord attempted a gas inspection at the property on 10 April 2019 which could not proceed as there was insufficient credit on the meter to continue. The resident was advised to contact it once gas credit was available.
8. On 12 September 2019 the landlord attended the resident’s property to uncap the gas and carry out a full gas service. This could not be completed as there was no gas available to carry out the test. The landlord returned on 18 September 2019 to attempt the gas service again and found that it was again unable to proceed as there was insufficient credit on the gas meter to proceed. The engineer’s note recorded that the resident was advised on the previous visit that £5 gas credit needed to be available to enable to the service to proceed.
9. The landlord attended the resident’s property on 29 November 2019 to carry out a boiler service and uncap the gas supply. The boiler was found to be not operational and there was no cooking facility as the cooker had not been connected.
10. Two fan heaters were delivered to the resident’s property on 5 December 2019.
11. The landlord carried out an asbestos check at the property on 19 December 2019.
12. The resident raised a stage one complaint with the landlord on 8 January 2020 stating that he had been without heating, hot water or cooking facilities for 30 days since 9 December 2019. He acknowledged that he had received £100 from the landlord towards his costs but stated that he had incurred additional costs for meals and washing over the period which he wanted to be reimbursed for. These costs were:

•      £252 for swimming and showering at a local leisure centre for 30 days
•      £200 for takeaway meals over 20 days
•      £59 for travel over ten days.

13. The resident added that his costs for phone calls should be considered by the landlord and that his health had suffered due to the cold and being “not able to eat properly”.
14. After acknowledging the complaint on 23 January 2020, the landlord issued its stage one complaint response on 3 February 2020 which stated that it had received the complaint on 17 January 2020. It noted that the resident had his boiler decommissioned on 29 November 2019 and its repairs history indicated that he had been without gas facilities for “a period of time”.
15. The landlord relayed the previous instances where it had been unable to uncap the gas supply and service the boiler and confirmed that it was able to complete the boiler service on 29 November 2019 where it was found that the boiler was faulty and provided a fan heater. It relayed that it carried out a survey for the new heating system on 9 December, an asbestos test on 19 December and installed a new boiler on 30 December 2019. The landlord noted that the boiler could not be commissioned initially due to a lack of credit on the gas meter. It stated that further attempts were made to contact the resident before it gained access on 8 January 2020 to successfully commission the boiler.
16. The landlord apologised for the length time the resident went without use of the boiler and offered compensation for the time between 29 November 2019 until 30 December 2019 when it installed the new boiler. It confirmed that it would not compensate for the lack of cooking facilities or for the period when there was no credit on the gas meter. The landlord stated its investigation had confirmed that the resident had not had his cooker connected to the gas supply for a “considerable” time and this was his responsibility to carry out.
17. The landlord offered compensation of £172.02 composed of:

• £60 for the cost of running temporary heaters, calculated at £2 per day
• £62.02 rent rebate for the lack of heating and hot water for 30 days
• A £50 discretionary payment for the lack of facilities over the holiday period.

18. The landlord noted that an interim payment of £100 was made to the resident on 23 December 2019 to help with his expenses and this would be deducted from the compensation awarded. Of the remaining £72.02, the rent rebate of £62.02 would be credited to his rent account leaving £10 compensation remaining. The landlord advised that any outstanding compensation paid would be credited to the resident’s rent account as it was in arrears. It confirmed that this concluded its consideration of his complaint at stage one of its process.
19. The resident wrote to the landlord on 14 February 2020 to escalate his complaint to the final stage. In his complaint, he contended that he was without heating, hot water and cooking facilities for 40 days, and repeated that he wanted to be fully reimbursed for his costs for meals and showering during that period. The resident stated that the £100 interim payment made to him on 23 December 2019 was “unacceptable” was insufficient to cover his costs. He asserted that he was only provided with one heater after requesting it.
20. The resident stated that the landlord offered to connect his cooker for him but this was not carried out and it had refused his request to house him in temporary accommodation. He relayed that several telephone calls were made to the landlord which were not returned and maintained that the landlord had left him without heating and hot water for 40 days which had impacted his health.
21. The resident disputed the amount of compensation offered to him, stating that the cost of running temporary heaters should have been calculated over 40 days and that £2 a day was not representative of the true cost. He also contended that the rent rebate should have been calculated over 40 days and the £50 discretionary payment was “an insult”. The resident asserted that a lack of hot water and heating was an emergency which the landlord should have fixed within 24 hours as it could impact on a resident’s health or safety. He added that he already had a payment plan for his rent arrears, therefore there was no need to credit any compensation awarded to him to his rent account.
22. The landlord issued its final stage complaint response on 19 February 2020 in which it stressed that that the discrepancy between the 30 days it based its compensation calculation on, and the 40 days cited by the resident was due to the 10 days between it installing the boiler and the resident providing gas credit to enable it to be commissioned. It stated that it had “disregarded” his point that his compensation should not be credited to his rent account as it was set out in its compensation and redress scheme that compensation would be used to offset any rent arrears.
23. The landlord stated that, after further investigation, it found that the resident’s cooker had never been connected, which deemed his claim for takeaway meals to be “irrelevant”. It had also ascertained that the £100 interim payment made to him was to enable him to travel this mother’s property to wash, therefore it did not accept his claim for additional travel and showering costs.
24. The landlord stated that it could find no evidence for the unreturned telephone calls referred to by the resident. It confirmed that it supported the decision it provided at stage one and advised that the complaint had exhausted its internal complaints process.
25. The complaint was duly made with this Service on 3 August 2020 and the resident advised this Service that his outstanding complaints were the level of compensation offered by the landlord and its decision to credit compensation awarded to him to his rent account.

Assessment and findings

The level of compensation the landlord offered for its handling of repairs to the resident’s boiler

26. It is noted that the resident alluded to, in his complaint on 8 January 2020, experiencing a detrimental impact to his health as a result of the boiler repair. It is beyond the expertise of this Service to determine if there has been a direct connection between the boiler repair and any subsequent ill health he experienced. The resident may wish to seek legal advice on making a personal injury claim if he considers that he has suffered ill health as a result of the landlord’s actions or lack of action.
27. The landlord has a responsibility to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for space heating and heating water This would include a gas boiler. The landlord would also be expected to provide the facility for the cooking of food, insofar as providing the installations necessary for a resident to connect his own cooker, which would remain his responsibility to connect.
28. The resident has claimed in his complaints on 8 January and 14 February 2020 that the landlord has deprived him of the cooking facilities. It is not disputed that his cooker was not connected to the gas supply, which it confirmed to him on 3 February 2020 was his responsibility. Nor is it disputed that gas credit was not available until 8 January 2020 when the landlord successfully commissioned the boiler. Therefore, it was reasonable for it to decline to compensate him for the cost for meals, as the discovery of the boiler breakdown made no change to his facilities for cooking.
29. When considering awards of compensation, the Ombudsman considers whether the sums awarded are proportionate to the failings exhibited by the landlord and whether they are offered in accordance with its policy and procedure. The actions of the resident are also taken in consideration, insofar as whether he contributed in any way to the situation in which he found himself. It should also be noted that compensation awarded by the Ombudsman is not intended to punish the landlord but is to ‘put right’ any failings identified.
30. As it is not disputed that there was no gas credit available between 30 December 2019 when the boiler was replaced and 8 January 2020 when the boiler was commissioned, it was reasonable for the landlord to decline to offer compensation over this period, as its actions were limited by the availability of gas credit, which was the resident’s responsibility to obtain. Therefore, this period of nine days when the resident did not have the use of the boiler was contributed to by the resident.
31. It was therefore reasonable for the landlord to award compensation for the period between 29 November 2019 and 30 December 2019, as it was responsible during this time for the replacement of the resident’s boiler. It is noted that the landlord awarded a rent rebate of £62.02 for the lack of heating and hot water over 30 days. Based on the weekly rent above at point 1, this appears to be a rate of rent rebate of approximately 20% and is in excess of the rate specified in its compensation and redress scheme, above at point 4, as heaters were provided to the resident. This is therefore a reasonable award.
32. The landlord also offered £60 compensation for the use of temporary heaters. Two heaters were provided on 5 December 2019, therefore the compensation should have been £104, calculated at £4 per day for 26 days, to cover the use of the two heaters until the boiler was installed on 30 December 2019, as specified in in the landlord’s compensation and redress scheme at point 4 above. Therefore, the landlord failed to provide compensation in accordance with its policy in this instance.
33. The £50 discretionary compensation offered by the landlord is a reasonable offer, which proportionately recognises the likely inconvenience caused to the resident over the 30 days taken to replace the boiler. This is broadly in accordance with the Ombudsman remedies guidance where there has been “service failure which had an impact on the complainant but was of short duration and may not have significantly affected the overall outcome for the complainant”.

The landlord’s decision to allocate the resident’s award of compensation to his outstanding rent arrears

34. It was appropriate for the landlord to assert in its stage one complaint response on 3 February 2020 and its final stage complaint response on 19 February 2020 that the compensation offered to the resident would be credited against his rent arrears. This was in accordance with its compensation and redress scheme, above at point 5.

Determination (decision)

In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure by the landlord in the level of compensation it offered for its handling of repairs to the resident’s boiler.

In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration by the landlord in its decision to allocate the resident’s award of compensation to his outstanding rent arrears.

Reasons

The landlord made an offer of redress to the resident for its handling of the boiler replacement that was less than the amount the set out in its compensation and redress scheme.

The landlord allocated its award of compensation towards the resident’s rent arrears in accordance with its compensation and redress scheme.

Orders

The landlord should:

1. pay the additional amount of £44 compensation to the resident for use of temporary heaters

 

2. pay the amount of £172.02 previously offered to him, less any sums already paid.

 

The landlord shall contact this Service within 28 days to confirm that it has complied with the above orders.

 

The Ombudsman accepts that, because of the present restrictions due to the corona virus pandemic, the timing of the above actions will depend on what is reasonable in the light of Government guidance regarding the health of the resident and of the landlord’s staff.