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Clarion Housing Association Limited (202302724)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202302724

Clarion Housing Association Limited

25 September 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 handling of:
    1. The resident’s tenancy succession application.
    2. The resident’s request to appoint an authorised representative.
    3. The associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident’s late father held an assured tenancy with the landlord of a 3-bedroom property. The resident also lived at the property. The resident has vulnerabilities which the landlord was made aware of in around October 2023.
  2. The resident is being represented by her mother in this complaint. For ease of reference, the resident and her mother will both be referred to as “the resident” in this report.
  3. On 15 June 2022, the resident applied to succeed her late father’s tenancy. The landlord contacted the resident on the same day and asked her to provide details of anyone occupying the property and a copy of her father’s death certificate.
  4. On 17 June 2022, the resident sent a copy of her father’s death certificate and will to the landlord. In addition, the resident also provided the landlord with a copy of her ID and bank statements.
  5. In June 2022, the landlord experienced a cyber security incident and lost access to information including the resident’s tenancy succession application.
  6. On 13 February 2023, the resident contacted the landlord to raise a complaint about the landlord failing to complete the succession application within a reasonable timeframe. However, the landlord did not log this contact as a complaint.
  7. On 19 October 2023, the Ombudsman sent a complaint letter to the landlord on behalf of the resident. The resident stated as part of the complaint that she was unhappy with the delay in processing her tenancy succession application. She stated the delay had resulted in rent arrears because her universal credit could not be processed until the tenancy succession application was completed. The resident also stated the landlord continued to contact her directly after she provided consent for it to communicate with her mother about the succession application.
  8. On 26 October 2023, the landlord sent an authority form to the resident to complete to provide consent for her mother to communicate with the landlord on her behalf.
  9. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 9 November 2023. It acknowledged there were delays in processing the succession application due to a cyber-security incident and a delay in contacting the resident to arrange a tenancy sign up. The landlord confirmed the succession had now been approved. It also stated the rent arrears letters it sent were automatically sent in the resident’s late father’s name and apologised for this error. In addition, the landlord explained with a tenancy transfer it can automatically transfer rent liability from the previous tenant to a successor. The landlord also stated it did not hold any written record of the resident’s mother being her authorised representative. Therefore, it stated it could not communicate with her due to data protection reasons. The landlord offered the resident £200 compensation to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its failures.
  10. On 9 November 2023, the resident contacted the landlord and requested her complaint to be escalated to the next stage of its complaints process. She stated the landlord failed to acknowledge and respond to any communication in a reasonable timescale. The resident also stated the delay of the succession application had resulted in rent arrears. In addition, she explained she previously sent the completed authority form to the landlord, and she stated the £200 compensation offer was not sufficient.
  11. The landlord provided it stage 2 complaint response to the resident on 22 December 2023. It explained in addition to the failings it previously mentioned in its stage 1 complaint response, it failed to consider the resident’s vulnerabilities by not completing advice and support referrals to assist with benefit claims and other support in managing the property. The landlord provided contact details to its welfare benefit advisory team to help the resident with a benefit claim for her rent. The landlord confirmed the tenancy succession had been completed and it would be processed on its systems shortly. It offered to write off 50% of the rent arrears that had accrued during the processing of the succession, totalling the amount of £5,371.55. The landlord confirmed this was in addition to the £200 it offered in its stage 1 complaint response. It also acknowledged there had been a delay in it providing its stage 2 complaint response and offered the resident £50 compensation to recognise this error.
  12. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response and submitted her complaint to the Ombudsman. She stated she wanted the landlord to pay additional compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused and for the landlord to communicate with her mother going forward.
  13. In January 2025, the resident received a backdated universal credit payment of £4,986.54 and the landlord applied this to the resident’s rent account on 8 January 2025. On the same day, the landlord also applied £8,056.20 to the resident’s rent account. The landlord also applied £5,621.55 to the resident’s rent account on 10 April 2025 as it stated it previously failed to pay the resident the compensation it offered and apply the 50% rent arrears write off which it offered in its stage 2 complaint response.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident told us since the completion of the tenancy succession application she has experienced issues accessing her rent account. She has also raised concerns that there are additional arrears on the rent account which the landlord has told us was as a result of the resident under occupying the property.  The Ombudsman will not consider these issues, because we can only investigate matters which have been through the landlord’s complaints process. This is in line with Paragraph 42.a. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, which states the Ombudsman may not consider a complaint which is made prior to having exhausted a landlord’s complaints procedure, unless there is evidence of a complaint-handling failure, and the Ombudsman is satisfied that the member landlord has not taken action to address the complaint handling failure within a reasonable timescale. The resident can make a separate complaint to the landlord about the issues relating to accessing her rent account and the new rent arrears if she wants to. She may be able to refer the new complaint to the Ombudsman if she remains dissatisfied with the landlord’s final response about these issues.

The resident’s tenancy succession application.

  1. The landlord’s succession policy states succession occurs when a sole tenant dies, and an eligible partner or qualifying member of the tenant’s family takes over the tenancy.
  2. In June 2022, the resident applied to succeed her late father’s tenancy. The landlord responded to the resident’s request promptly and asked the resident to provide details of anyone occupying the property and a copy of her father’s death certificate. This was reasonable, so the landlord had the necessary documentation to proceed with the resident’s tenancy succession application.
  3. Shortly after, the resident sent the landlord a copy of her father’s death certificate and will. In addition, the resident also provided the landlord with a copy of her ID and bank statements. Following the receipt of the requested documentation it would have been appropriate for the landlord to carry out the necessary steps to process the tenancy succession. However, there was a considerable delay with this due to the landlord experiencing a cyber security incident which resulted in it losing access to information including the resident’s succession application. The Ombudsman recognises the cyber security incident would have been unforeseen. However, the delay resulted in the resident not being able to receive any universal credit payments which resulted in rent arrears, as the tenancy succession needed to be completed for the resident to receive her eligible benefit payments.
  4. We recognise the delay in the landlord processing the succession application and the increasing rent arrears would have been distressing for the resident. The landlord failed to contact the resident about her succession application until after she contacted the landlord in February 2023, stating she was unhappy with the landlord’s failure to process the succession application within a reasonable timeframe.
  5. Following the resident’s contact to the landlord about the delayed tenancy succession application, the landlord called the resident several times in March 2023 to process her succession application. In addition, it also called the resident in June 2023 and July 2023. From reviewing the landlord’s call notes we understand it experienced difficulties speaking to the resident, due to her being unavailable to speak or there being no answer when it called. We recognise this part of the delay would have been outside the landlord’s control.
  6. On 21 August 2023, the resident signed a tenancy agreement as part of the tenancy sign-up process. However, the landlord was unsure if the tenancy sign-up took place due to its staff member leaving shortly after the arranged appointment. This was unreasonable and caused a further delay to the completion of the tenancy succession. The landlord should have been able to see from its records that the sign-up took place. The resident informed the landlord in November 2023 that the tenancy sign-up took place and confirmed she signed a new tenancy agreement. Following this, the landlord located a copy of the signed tenancy agreement, which was positive.
  7. The landlord acknowledged in its stage 1 and 2 complaint responses that there were delays in it processing the resident’s succession application. It also explained letters regarding rent arrears were automatically sent in the resident’s late father’s name. It apologised for the upset caused by this error and confirmed it would no longer send rent arrears letters in her late father’s name. The landlord also offered to write off 50% of the rent arrears that had accrued during the processing of the succession, totalling the amount of £5,371.55. This was a positive step taken by the landlord. The landlord also offered the resident £200 compensation to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its delays and error. However, considering the sensitive circumstances related to the succession application and considerable delay in processing the application, the £200 compensation offer for distress and inconvenience was not sufficient.
  8. The landlord also confirmed in its stage 2 complaint response that the resident’s tenancy succession had been completed and acted reasonably by signposting the resident to its benefits advisory team to help her claim eligible benefits to cover her rent.
  9. Following the stage 2 complaint response, the resident confirmed the landlord continued to send her rent arrears letters. In addition, she also stated the landlord incorrectly informed the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) that she had no rent liabilities which delayed her universal credit payment. We recognise this would have been very distressing for the resident.
  10. The landlord confirmed in January 2025, the resident received a backdated universal credit payment of £4,986.54 and the landlord applied this to the resident’s rent account on 8 January 2025. On the same day, the landlord also applied £8,056.20 to the resident’s rent account and explained to us that this was the rent the resident should not have been charged during years 2022-2023 due to its error with the succession application. The landlord acted reasonably by making an additional payment to the resident’s rent account to reduce the rent arrears accumulated during the succession application
  11. The landlord also applied £5,621.55 to the resident’s rent account on 10 April 2025 as it stated it previously failed to pay the resident the compensation it offered and apply its offer to write off the 50% rent arrears it offered in its stage 2 complaint response. The delay in the landlord completing this action was unreasonable as it completed it 1 year and 4 months after it issued its stage 2 complaint response.
  12. On 8 September 2025, the landlord confirmed the resident’s balance was £1,179.72 in arrears. However, it explained the recent arrears was due to her benefits not covering 25% of the rent because of a spare room deduction. As set out above, we are not considering the recent rent arrears as part of our investigation. However, the resident can raise a separate complaint about this if she wants to.
  13. The landlord eventually took the appropriate steps to acknowledge and resolve its error relating to its handling of the resident’s tenancy succession application. However, considering the length of time it took to resolve the error, there has been maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s tenancy succession application.
  14. It would be appropriate for the landlord to pay the resident an additional £250 compensation. The compensation awarded is in line with the Ombudsman’s approach to compensation, which is set out in our remedies guidance (published on our website). The remedies guidance suggests awards of £100 to £600 where there has been a failure by the landlord, which adversely affected the resident, but there may be no permanent impact. In this case, there was no permanent impact as the issue with the rent arrears related to the succession application was eventually resolved, although there was distress and inconvenience for the resident for a long time before it was resolved.

The resident’s request to appoint an authorised representative.

  1. The resident also raised as part of her complaint that the landlord continued to contact her directly after she provided consent for it to communicate with her mother about the succession application.
  2. In response to the resident’s concerns about her request for the landlord to communicate directly with her mother. The landlord emailed the resident on 26 October 2023 and explained its records showed it did not have the resident’s mother recorded as an authorised representative. Therefore, it stated it could not share any information with the resident’s mother. The landlord’s response was reasonable as due to data protection reasons, a landlord cannot share information with an unauthorised individual
  3. Shortly after, the landlord sent the resident a delegated authority form for her to complete to provide the necessary consent for her mother to act as her authorised representative. The landlord also emailed the resident’s mother on 2 November 2023 informing her that it had sent the resident an authority form in the post.
  4. The landlord confirmed in its stage 1 complaint response it had arranged for its neighbourhood officer to visit the resident on 13 November 2023 to collect the completed authority form. It explained once it was in receipt of the form, it would contact the resident’s mother directly regarding the succession application. It is positive the landlord agreed to collect the signed authority form in person. However, from the information provided there is no evidence that the landlord’s staff member attended the resident’s property to attempt to collect the form which was a failing by the landlord.
  5. The landlord’s records from 20 November 2023 state that an authority form was sent in and uploaded. Therefore, this indicates the resident completed the authority form and sent it back to the landlord. However, the landlord told the resident it still had not received the form. We recognise the landlord may have lost the completed authority form and if this was the case it should have acknowledged this error and apologised.
  6. The Ombudsman recognises the resident also sent a handwritten letter with consent for her mum to be her authorised representative. The landlord received this letter and confirmed it could not accept the letter as consent due to it not complying with its procedural requirements. This was a reasonable response.
  7. Overall, there is no evidence the landlord tried to attend the resident’s property as agreed, to collect the completed authority form and it failed to acknowledge that its records indicated that it may have lost the completed form. Therefore, there has been a service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s request to appoint an authorised representative. It would be appropriate for the landlord to pay the resident £100 compensation to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by its error. The amount of compensation awarded, is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance referenced above.

The associated complaint.

  1. The Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code) sets out the Ombudsman’s expectations for landlords’ complaint handling practices. The Code states that a stage 1 response should be provided within 10 working days of the complaint. It also explains that a stage 2 response should be provided within 20 working days from the request to escalate the complaint. The landlord’s interim complaints policy from the time of the complaint states that the landlord will provide a stage 1 response within 20 working days and a stage 2 response within 40 working days. These timescales were not compliant with the Code. However, the landlord’s recent complaints policy includes the same timescales referenced in the Code.
  2. The Code also states that a landlord must accept a complaint unless there is a valid reason not to do so. In addition, it explains when a complaint is made, it must be acknowledged and logged at stage 1 of the landlord’s complaint procedure within 5 days of receipt. The landlord’s complaints policy states that it will acknowledge a stage 1 complaint within 10 working days of receiving it.
  3. The Code defines a complaint as an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions, or lack of action by the organisation, its own staff, or actions on its behalf affecting a resident or group of residents.
  4. There was a delay in the landlord logging the resident’s initial complaint. The resident contacted the landlord on 13 February 2023 and explained that she was unhappy that the landlord had failed to complete her succession application within a reasonable timeframe. The landlord also provided a copy of this complaint in its file submission to us. The landlord failed to acknowledge or respond to the complaint in line with the timescales referenced in its own complaints policy and the Code. The landlord eventually logged a complaint for the resident approximately 8 months later in October 2023 after the Ombudsman submitted a complaint on behalf of the resident to the landlord on 19 October 2023. Following this, the landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 9 November 2023
  5. On 9 November 2023, the resident contacted the landlord and asked to escalate her complaint to the next stage of its complaints process. It took the landlord approximately 31 working days to provide its stage 2 complaint response which it sent to the resident on 22 December 2023. The response was late and not compliant with the timescales referenced in the Code.
  6. The landlord’s failure to log the resident’s initial complaint submission as a complaint was unreasonable and its delay in logging the resident’s complaint would have delayed the resident from bringing her complaint to the Ombudsman, causing her inconvenience.
  7. The landlord also failed to acknowledge the complaint error in its complaint responses. However, the landlord acknowledged in its stage 2 complaint response that there was a delay in it providing its stage 2 complaint response and offered the resident £50 compensation to recognise the distress and inconvenience caused by the delay.
  8. Given the landlord’s complaint handling errors, it would be appropriate for the landlord to pay the resident £150 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused. The amount of compensation is in addition to the £50 compensation the landlord offered and is appropriate to recognise the delay the resident experienced. It is also compliant with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance referenced above.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s tenancy succession application.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was  service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s request to appoint an authorised representative.
  3. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

Orders

  1. The landlord is ordered to pay the resident:
    1. £250 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused by its errors in the handling of the resident’s tenancy succession application. This amount is in addition to £200 the landlord offered in its stage 2 complaint response.
    2. £100 compensation for its errors in the handling of the resident’s request to appoint an authorised representative
    3. £150 compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused by its complaint handling errors. This amount is in addition to the £50 the landlord offered in its stage 2 complaint response
  2. The landlord must comply with the above orders within 4 weeks of the date of this report, providing evidence to the Ombudsman that it has done so by the same date.

Recommendations

  1. We recommend the landlord sends the resident another authority form and we suggest the resident completes this if she still would like her mother to act as her authorised representative regarding matters relating to her tenancy.
  2. We recommend the landlord contacts the resident to discuss the cause of the new rent arrears and provide any available support to resolve the arrears.