GreenSquareAccord Limited (202414150)

Background

1. The resident pays a variable service charge. The landlord acknowledged it charged him too much for his personal heating use but refused his requests for a lump sum refund. The resident complained about its mistake and decision. He wanted the landlord to refund the amount he had overpaid. He remained dissatisfied after completing the landlord’s complaint process because he felt it had not resolved his concerns or given the refund due.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the service charge for personal heating and the resident’s requests for a refund.
3. We have also assessed the landlord’s handling of the complaint.

Our decision (determination)

4. There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the service charge for personal heating and the resident’s requests for a refund.
5. There was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the complaint.

We have made orders for the landlord to put things right.

Reasons

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

Handling of the service charge for personal heating and the resident’s requests for a refund

7. In April 2023, the landlord increased the resident’s personal heating charge from £4.60 per week to £33.18 per week. Its rent and service charge review letter of 13 February 2023 did not explain the reason for the increase. The resident did not query the increase at the time. He told us he knew oil prices had increased and thought that caused the increase in his heating charge.
8. The landlord told us that, when it was preparing its estimated charges for 2024-25, it realised it had miscalculated the resident’s heating charge the previous year. This meant the resident paid more than he should have between April 2023 and April 2024.
9. The landlord treated his overpayment in the same way it would treat a surplus of charges collected if its actual costs were lower than its estimated charges. The landlord’s service charge policy says it will carry surpluses forward and offset them against the following year’s estimated charges. We can see the landlord did this with the resident’s overpayment resulting in his estimated heating charge for 2024-25 being minus £30.97 per week.
10. In our view, the landlord’s decision to treat the overpayment as a surplus was unfair. The overpayment occurred because of a mistake it made when estimating the charge for 2023-24. The landlord knew the resident was on a low income because it received housing benefit to cover his rent and eligible service charge. It also knew he paid the heating charge himself because it was not an eligible charge for housing benefit purposes.
11. It would have been appropriate for the landlord to have apologised for its mistake and refunded the overpayment in full. Its decision to treat the overpayment as a surplus meant the resident was further disadvantaged by the landlord’s mistake in charging the wrong amount.
12. Its responses to his requests for a refund from April 2024 were dismissive and unsympathetic. While it acknowledged its mistake in setting the charge, it did not show any urgency in resolving the situation. It told the resident it was “still looking into” the issue for more than 2 months from 24 April 2024 even though he wrote saying he thought he had paid £2,000 too much. The delay in resolution left the resident chasing for updates. When it spoke to him, the landlord said it was “unlikely” to reimburse him. There is no evidence it reconsidered its approach when it knew he had struggled to pay the charge and borrowed money to do so.
13. Treating the overpayment as a surplus led to a further mistake because, on 11 July 2024, the landlord told the Council it was paying too much housing benefit. In fact, the Council was paying the correct amount to cover the rent and eligible service charge. The landlord’s offsetting of the resident’s overpayment against the current charges caused its confusion about the amount the Council was paying. The Council reduced its housing benefit payments to reflect the incorrect rent and service charge amount the landlord notified it of on 11 July 2024. This meant the substantial credit on the resident’s rent account began to reduce.
14. In its stage 1 complaint response of 29 July 2024, the landlord acknowledged the resident had to chase it for responses. It apologised and offered £150 compensation. In its stage 2 response of 28 August 2024, it also apologised for its mistake leading to the reduced housing benefit payment and assured the resident it would resolve it. However, it missed opportunities explain why it had charged too much in 2023-24 or confirm the amount the resident had overpaid in its complaint responses. This meant the resident continued to think he had overpaid by around £2,000.
15. It was appropriate the landlord resolved its mistake with the Council and restored the housing benefit payments. However, this took until 23 September 2024. In the meantime, it continued to refuse to give the resident a refund because it did not know how much his rent account should be in credit. This meant the resident was again disadvantaged by a mistake the landlord had made.
16. We can see the landlord gave refunds totalling £743.28 between 22 January 2025 and 14 February 2025. We can also see the resident did not pay heating charges from 3 April 2024 after the landlord cancelled his direct debit. We cannot tell if a further refund is due because there is no evidence to confirm the amount of his overpayment. The resident believes the landlord has not refunded the full amount he overpaid. We have ordered it to explain the situation and pay any further refund due.
17. The landlord’s offer of £150 compensation was not enough given the failings we have identified and their impact on the resident. We have ordered it to apologise and pay £350 compensation (inclusive of its offer) for its handling of the overpayment and the resident’s requests for a refund. The compensation amount is in line with our Compensation Guidance considering the adverse impact, distress and inconvenience caused and the resident’s circumstances.

Handling of the complaint

18. The resident wrote to the landlord on 29 April 2024 expressing dissatisfaction with its mistake and refusing his refund request. In line with its Complaints Policy and the Complaint Handling Code (the Code), the landlord should have logged a complaint.
19. Its failure to do so led to the resident to ask us to help him progress his complaint. This would have been inconvenient for him. It also delayed him from completing the landlord’s complaint process and being able to ask us to investigate. We have ordered the landlord to pay £50 compensation for the inconvenience caused. We recommend it considers what led to the service failure and how it can avoid this in future.
20. Following our intervention on 8 July 2024, the landlord handled the complaint in line with its policy and the Code.

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.

Recommendations

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