London & Quadrant Housing Trust (202409207)

Background

1. The resident lives in a flat. The resident reported a leak from the radiator in her bathroom and then made a complaint about the damage of this to her bedroom floor and personal items. The resident was unhappy with the landlord’s offer of compensation to address this.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s:
   1. Handling of repairs to a leak in the bathroom.
   2. Complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

3. There was reasonable redress made by the landlord for its handling of repairs to a leak.
4. There was reasonable redress made by the landlord for its complaint handling.

We have not made orders for the landlord to put things right.

Reasons

What we will not investigate

5. The resident told us that the landlord’s quality of repairs negatively impacted her mental health. It would be fairer, more reasonable, and more effective for the resident to make a personal injury claim for any injury caused. The courts are best placed to deal with this subject as they will have the benefit of independent medical advice to decide on the cause of injury and how long it will last. We have therefore not investigated the health impact but have considered general distress and inconvenience that the resident experienced from the landlord’s repairs.

What we will investigate – Landlord’s handling of repair to a leak

6. The resident reported a leak from the bathroom radiator to the landlord on 11 May 2023. She then complained on 31 May 2023 that there had also been leaks before and that she was not going to use her contents insurance policy to repair the damage to her bedroom flooring this time, as she had previously done.
7. The landlord issued its stage 1 response on 1 June 2023. It upheld the resident’s complaint and explained that:
   1. It had repaired the leak on 11 May 2023.
   2. It had provided a dehumidifier on 22 May 2023, which it would collect on 19 June 2023.
   3. The resident was responsible for repairing any damage to flooring.
   4. The resident could discuss damage to bedroom flooring and her personal belongings with its insurance team.
   5. It could arrange for any repair to plastering if that was needed.
8. The resident escalated her complaint on 14 September 2023 because she said that the leak was still ongoing in the bathroom. She noted that the landlord’s operative had attended the property the day before but had been unable to stop the leak. The resident mentioned that her home was getting damaged and that she had needed to pay to replace personal items. She also said that her daughter had been sleeping next to a damp wall because of the leak.
9. The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 12 March 2024 and noted that:
   1. Its operative had not identified any leak in the bathroom on 6 March 2024.
   2. Its operative had repaired the tiles and silicone in the bathroom on 8 March 2024.
   3. The resident had need to chase the landlord several times dueto thedelays in completing the repair. The resident had experienced distress and inconveniencefrom this and also needed to spend time and effort chasing the matter.
   4. It could not repair the bedroom flooring but the resident could contact its insurance team about making a claim.
10. The landlord offered the resident a total of £720 compensation,madeup of: £240 for her distress, £240 for her inconvenience, and £240 for her time and effort in trying to resolve her complaint. The landlord noted that it had discussed painting the bathroom on 11 March 2024.It clarified that it was the resident’s responsibility to paint the bathroom but itoffered her a £75 goodwill gesture voucher for this.
11. The resident complained to us that she wanted the landlord to increase its compensation, as this matter had impacted her mental health and caused her distress, inconvenience, and financial loss.
12. The landlord’s repairs policy states that it “is responsible for repairs to…pipework (when leaking)” and also for repairs to “waste and supply pipe leaks” amongst other issues. The policy also notes “For routine day to day repairs, we will aim to complete the repair in an average of 25 calendar days.” Therefore, the leak in the bathroom should reasonably have been permanently repaired within 25 calendar days of 11 May 2023, if possible, which would have been 16 June 2023.
13. The landlord acted promptly at first by repairing the leak on the same day but its initial repair on 11 March 2023 was not permanent according to the resident, who said the leak was still ongoing. The resident therefore said she needed to escalate her complaint on 14 September 2023. The landlord then took around another 6 months until 8 March 2024 to fully resolve the repair issue. The landlord therefore took 302 calendar days to complete an appropriate repair to the bathroom leak, which was 277 calendar days outside its policy timescales.
14. The resident experienced distress and inconvenience from the landlord’s repair delays. We consider that the landlord has provided an appropriate level of compensation of £480 for this, as it is similar to what our remedies guidance considers a fair and reasonable range of compensation for the circumstances of this case negatively affecting the resident.
15. The landlord’s repairs policy notes that it “does not undertake repairs to…floor coverings (e.g. carpets) in any rooms except kitchens and bathrooms where flooring coverings were provided by [it] and are causing a trip hazard.” Furthermore, its compensation policy notes that it “does not cover compensation in relation to damage to a customer’s home and/or belongings or for personal injury.” The resident has said that the leak damaged her bedroom flooring and other personal belongings. This was very unfortunate. We consider, however, that the landlord has correctly clarified that it is not responsible for addressing the damage to the resident’s bedroom flooring and personal items, in line with its policies.
16. The landlord told the resident on 12 March 2024 about how she could contact its insurance team about claiming for damages to her bedroom flooring and personal belongings. The resident told us that she contacted the insurance team on 5 June 2024. However, she has not received a response to date. During this investigation, the landlord clarified that its insurance solicitor has not found any correspondence from the resident dated June 2024 or about any leak in 2023. This is unfortunate but there is no evidence that the landlord is responsible for this because we do not have any evidence of the resident attempting to make a claim to it about this at that time. We have though made a recommendation to the landlord to clarify the current process around how to make a claim to its insurance team to her, should the resident wish to do so.
17. We consider that the landlord has now paid proportionate compensation to the resident for the repair delays. The total compensation for this of £480 is largely fair and reasonable for the circumstances of this case and would be in line with our remedies guidance. The resident has confirmed this was paid to her rent account.

Landlord’s complaint handling

18. The landlord operates a 2-stage complaint process. Its complaints policy says it acknowledges complaints within 5 working days. It responds to stage 1 and 2 complaints within 10 and 20 working days, respectively. This is in line with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code).
19. The landlord acknowledged the resident’s stage 1 complaint of 31 May 2023 and sent its stage 1 response within acceptable timescales, as per the Code and its policy. This is because its stage 1 acknowledgement and response were sent within their above timescales on 1 June 2023.
20. The landlord sent its stage 2 response on 12 March 2024, which was 126 working days after the resident escalated her complaint on 14 September 2024. This was in breach of both the Code and the landlord’s policy and was a failure by the landlord. As part of its compensation offer, however, the landlord acknowledged the resident’s time and trouble in pursuing her complaint and paid her £240 compensation. We consider the landlord’s compensation payment has addressed the negative impact on the resident from its failure because this is in line with the range of compensation recommended by our remedies guidance for this.
21. We have nonetheless made a recommendation to the landlord for improving its complaint handling by providing further training to its staff on providing appropriate complaint responses within the timescales set out in the Code and its policy.

Putting things right

Where we find service failure, maladministration or severe maladministration we can make orders for the landlord to put things right. We have the discretion to make recommendations in all other cases within our jurisdiction.

Recommendations

Our recommendations are not binding, and a landlord may decide not to follow them.