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Incommunities Limited (202309239)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202309239

Incommunities Limited

26 August 2025

 

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 response to the resident’s enquiries about her rent account and payments.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord, a housing association.
  2. In June 2023 the resident spoke with the landlord who told her she was in arrears. She asked why this was the case as, although her housing benefit (HB) had been suspended, she had made some direct rent payments.
  3. On 23 June 2023 the resident complained to the landlord, asking why a HB payment was missing from her account. She also said she had not received an authorisation code for a rent payment made on 15 June 2023 by phone after the call ended midway. She wanted the arrears explained, the code provided, and a rent refund.
  4. On 29 June 2023 the landlord issued its stage 1 response. It confirmed that, after her direct payments in June 2023, an outstanding balance was left as the payments made covered 8 weeks of rent instead of 9. It explained a HB payment was received on 27 June but HB payments did not immediately appear on her account. The landlord gave a 6-digit authorisation code and said its income team would contact her about a refund.
  5. On 30 June 2023 the resident asked to escalate her complaint. She said the landlord did not explain why she could not get a refund for her direct payments, which were made during a period covered by a HB payment. She also noted that usually a 5-digit code precedes the 6-digit authorisation code.
  6. On 27 July 2023 the landlord issued its final stage 2 response. It confirmed that, during her HB suspension, she made additional payments that resulted in credit on her rent account. It said it had tried to contact her to confirm her refund amount taking into account her HB suspension, and asked her to contact it. It added it would not enforce advance rent payments for HB tenants and apologised for advising otherwise. It also provided the 5-digit code.
  7. In the resident’s referral to us, she remained unhappy about being asked to pay rent in advance and not receiving a refund.

Assessment and findings

  1. The resident complained the landlord did not provide a rent refund where she had paid rent directly while also receiving HB during the same period. She said the stage 1 response did not address this and asked for a 5-digit code alongside the 6-digit code already provided, plus an explanation of what the codes represent.
  2. The landlord explained it received a HB payment on 27 June 2023 covering 17 April – 11 June 2023, and there was a delay in this showing on her rent account. It also provided the 6-digit authorisation code for her 15 June payment and said its income team would contact her about a refund. It acknowledged a landlord staff member had wrongly told her to keep her account in credit and apologised for this.
  3. When failings have occurred, our role is to assess whether the complaint was resolved satisfactorily and appropriate redress was offered, in line with the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles: be fair, put things right, and learn from outcomes.
  4. The landlord responded promptly to the resident’s concerns by attempting to phone her several times in June and July 2023, offering to check the codes and put her through to its income team. It provided an up-to-date rent statement at stage 1, explained HB payment delays, and in its final response gave the requested 5-digit code with an explanation.
  5. The landlord accepted it gave incorrect advice in a June 2023 telephone call and issued a reminder to staff that residents who are on HB or Universal Credit do not need to pay rent in advance, and the staff should bear this in mind when processing refunds.
  6. The resident believed she was due a refund as she made some direct rent payments during her HB suspension. A HB payment was then made on 27 June 2023 which brought her account into credit. The evidence shows that the resident’s rent account was in credit on the date, 28 June 2023, that she requested a refund. We have seen that no further HB was received after 3 July 2023.
  7. At the time of the landlord’s final response, the resident’s rent account was in credit. The landlord asked the resident to contact it to discuss future payments as her HB claim was suspended. Although the income team attempted to call the resident in July 2023, they failed to follow up in writing. This was an oversight which the landlord apologised for.
  8. It appears that the resident did not pursue a refund further. She continued to make direct rent payments in August and September 2023 and the levels of her payments were such that a refund was no longer due. The landlord advised us that she now pays rent directly and we have seen a rent statement dated 23 July 2023 showing no refund is due.
  9. Overall, the landlord appropriately investigated the resident’s rent account, explained its findings and addressed its own poor service. It also demonstrated a customer-focussed approach by providing requested authorisation codes and continuing to offer income team support to address her refund request. Its remedial actions and acknowledgement of incorrect advice were proportionate and adequately remedied the complaint.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.b. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord offered redress to the resident prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, satisfactorily resolves the complaint.