London & Quadrant Housing Trust (202418278)

Background

1. The resident lives in a house with her 3 children. In December 2023 she reported that she had no heating or hot water. The landlord restored the services, but follow-on work did not progress. She complained due to the length of time taken to fully resolve the issue.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s:
   1. Reports of outstanding repairs to the boiler.
   2. Complaint.

Our decision (determination)

3. We have found:
   1. Service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of outstanding repairs to the boiler.
   2. The landlord offered reasonable redress for its complaint handling failures.

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

Summary of reasons

Report of outstanding repairs to the boiler

4. The landlord failed to fully resolve the repairs in line with its policy timescales. It repeated the same failings throughout the complaint and demonstrated no learning.

Complaint

5. There were minor delays in the landlord’s complaint handling at stage 2, and its record keeping was not clear. However, it acknowledged this and offered proportionate compensation.

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.

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.

6. On 2 December 2023 the resident reported that she had no hot water or heating. The landlord said in its stage 1 complaint response that it had booked appointments for 4 and 5 December 2023 but moved the appointment to 6 December 2023. It said the contractor attended on 6 December 2023 to assess the repair. Its repair policy says it will attend an emergency repair within 24 hours. Having no heating or hot water in the winter is generally considered an emergency in the social housing sector, particularly when there are children in the home. It failed to attend within the timeframe set out in its policy.
7. The landlord said that it’s contractor partially resolved the issue on 19 December 2023 when it reinstated the heating and hot water. However, the immersion heater still needed replacing. There is limited evidence to show what happened between December 2023 and May 2024. It explained in its complaint responses that several appointments during this time were marked as ‘no access’. It sent a letter to the resident on some occasions when it had not been able to gain access, however, these did not cover all the unsuccessful appointments and were not dated. It is not clear if the appointments were pre-arranged or if its contractor arrived unannounced. It should keep full repair records that show reports, attendance, actions taken, and ensure that its dates all its correspondence.
8. The stage 1 response set out a timeline and acknowledged that the contractor missed some appointments because it did not attend or did not have the parts needed. The landlord said the contractor offered the resident £390 compensation for the delay and would contact her directly. There was no direct relationship between the resident and its contractor. It would have been better practice for the landlord to issue the payment and recover the cost. However, the amount offered was reasonable and in line with the landlord’s compensation policy and our remedies guidance for when there has been a failing which adversely affected a resident.
9. In its stage 1 complaint response the landlord gave a point of contact who it said would manage the repair until completion. This was a positive step to reassure the resident that the repair was being monitored. However, when the resident tried to contact the named person, the landlord did not provide their contact details. This likely caused further frustration and led to her escalating her complaint.
10. Following the landlord’s stage 1 response, the contractor attended again but did not have the required parts. Given, it was aware of this failing during its stage 1 investigation, it did not demonstrate that it learnt from this or that it took any action to make sure this did not happen again. This likely led to further inconvenience and frustration for the resident.
11. In its stage 2 response the landlord said that the work went ahead on 13 June 2024, and it had sent a variation to its planning team for approval. It was not clear what the variation related to. It needed to give a clear explanation of the repair status and set out expected timescales, so the resident understood the next steps and likely timescales.
12. The landlord offered £175 compensation for distress, inconvenience, time, and effort. This was in addition to the £390 offered at stage 1. The resident said she had taken unpaid days off work for appointments when the contractor did not attend or did not have the correct parts. Its compensation policy does not provide for loss of earnings, so it was reasonable that the landlord did not offer compensation for this. However, its total offer of £525 was proportionate to recognise the inconvenience caused and was in line with our remedies guidance for when there has been a failing which adversely affected a resident.
13. The landlord’s compensation policy allows for £20 compensation for each missed appointment and to reimburse for out-of-pocket expenses. There were missed appointments and the resident told the landlord she was having to use more gas than usual. It failed to respond to this in its responses or provide a breakdown of what it considered in its compensation offer in relation to the missed appointments. That said, its compensation offer was proportionate to the identified failings. We have made a recommendation for the landlord to consider reimbursement for any costs incurred due to an increase in the resident’s gas usage during the complaint period.
14. In summary the landlord took 6 months to complete the full repair but did not demonstrate any learning from the complaint or state how it would prevent similar failings in the future. We have therefore made a failure finding. That said, its offer of compensation was proportionate, so we have not ordered any additional compensation.

15. At the time of this complaint, the landlord was operating a complaint policy which was not in line with the complaint handling code (the code). It had an acknowledgement timescale of 1 working day for stage 1, and 2 working days for stage 2. However, it has since amended its policy to acknowledge complaints within 5 working days which is compliant with the code.
16. It is not clear what the landlord discussed with the resident when it acknowledged the stage 1 complaint and there is no evidence to show it acknowledged the escalation request. It should make sure that its records are clear and detailed to show its commitment to effective complaint handling and the code.
17. It issued its stage 1 response within 8 working days which is in line with its policy of 10 working days.
18. It is not clear when the resident escalated the stage 2 complaint, so we cannot say whether it responded within its timescales. However, on 22 May 2024, the resident expressed that she was unhappy with the compensation offer. The stage 2 response was issued 37 days later, which was outside of the 20 working days set out in its policy. That said, the landlord offered reasonable redress in the amount of £60for its complaint handling failures which is in line with our remedies guidance and proportionate to the delay.

Learning

19. The landlord needs to ensure that it monitors contractors, appointments and attendance to effectively monitor repairs to completion. It should ensure it keeps resident’s updated and makes them aware when an appointment is booked.
20. The landlord offered compensation but did not give a full breakdown. It would therefore be beneficial for it to consider how it sets out its offers of compensation. This may improve clarity and understanding of what it has considered. It may wish to refer to our compensation guidance.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

21. Repairs need detailed records showing attendance, photos (where appropriate), actions taken and clear notes when access is not gained. It may wish to refer to our spotlight report on knowledge and information management.

Communication

22. When the landlord provides a named point of contact, it should ensure that details on how to contact them are provided.