Home Group Limited (202324677)

Background

1. The resident, who is elderly, moved to the assisted accommodation in April 2022. Residents pay their energy bills directly to the landlord. Due to a fault in the automatic metering system, no bills were generated between April 2022 and April 2023, when the resident received a bill for £1,421.33.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about a backdated energy bill.
3. The ombudsman has also investigated the landlord’s complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

4. The landlord has taken steps that have resolved the complaint about the backdated energy bill satisfactorily.
5. We found a service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling.

We have made an order for the landlord to put things right.

Summary of reasons

The backdated energy bill

6. The landlord explained that it was obliged to recover the costs for the energy that had been consumed. To recognise the delay in producing the bills, it negotiated a reduction of the bill and, as a goodwill gesture, offered gift vouchers to the on-site coffee shop. It also identified a learning point, stating that it would ensure manual reading of the meters until the issues with the smart meters were resolved.

The landlord’s complaint handling

7. The landlord exceeded the timeframes specified in its complaints policy for a stage 1 and 2 response, and it failed to acknowledge this within both its complaint responses.

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.

Orders

Landlords must comply with our orders in the manner and timescales we specify. The landlord must provide documentary evidence of compliance with our orders by the due date set.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

What we found and why

The circumstances of this complaint are well known by the parties involved, so it is not necessary to detail everything that’s happened or comment on all the information we’ve reviewed. We’ve only included the key information that forms the basis of our decision of whether the landlord is responsible for maladministration.

8. The energy to the care home is provided by a third party, who was also responsible for the metering and billing. We are unable to investigate the actions taken by the energy provider. As the resident paid his utility services through the landlord, we have considered the landlord’s actions in response to the complaint and whether its communications with the resident and the energy provider were reasonable.
9. Nothing in the evidence explains why it has taken a year to resolve the defect in the smart metering system, or what action the landlord has taken with the provider to address the issue in the months leading up to, and during the resident’s complaint. It is unclear whether this is the result of a record-keeping failure.
10. Although the resident said the landlord had not provided him with a welcome pack, he also said that he had read the neighbour’s copy. There is no evidence that the resident was told at any time that he would not need to pay for the energy used. In its stage 1 complaint response, the landlord said it was responsible for recovering the costs incurred for the resident’s energy consumption. Social landlords have obligations to ensure they use public funds efficiently, and this was a reasonable response. The landlord’s records also show that the resident received £600.00 in government assistance towards his energy bill, which he felt should not be used to pay his bill because of the time taken to provide him with the bill.
11. During its complaint investigation, the landlord confirmed that no other resident has had their bill waived in full. It negotiated with the provider a £500 reduction for the resident. It also offered, as a gesture of goodwill, £50 of gift vouchers to the on-site coffee shop. To avoid recurrence, it committed to manual meter readings until the issues with the smart meters were resolved.
12. In all the circumstances of the case, the landlord acted fairly and took appropriate steps that resolved the complaint satisfactorily.

13. The resident raised his stage 1 complaint on 30 May 2023. Against a target of 10 working days, the landlord responded 41 working days later, on 26 July 2023.
14. The resident escalated his complaint on 27 July 2023. Against a target of 10 working days, the landlord responded 55 working days later on 12 October 2023.
15. The landlord missed an opportunity to recognise the delays in both stages of its internal complaint process, and the impact it had on the resident who was left chasing the landlord’s response. This damaged the landlord’s relationship with the resident.
16. We have relied on the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance and ordered the landlord to pay £75 in compensation to put things right for the resident. This amount falls within the range of compensation for situations where the landlord’s service failure impacted the resident, but not permanently.
17. Since the complaint was made, the landlord has adopted a new complaint policy, which is aligned with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, which became a statutory requirement in April 2024. Therefore, it was not necessary to issue a complaint handling order for the landlord to review its approach.

Learning

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

18. There was no audit trail to explain why it took over a year to repair the smart metering system, or whether the landlord had taken proportionate action to address this issue with the energy provider. This indicates that there could be a record-keeping issue or that the landlord simply has not provided us with full records. The landlord should consider whether it has appropriate measures in place to record events, and to evidence its actions should it need to.