A2Dominion Housing Group Limited (202437558)

Background

1. On 5 February 2024 the landlord told the resident that her service charge account was in deficit by £1,700. The resident raised queries on the same day. The landlord did not reply to all the queries which resulted in the resident raising a complaint on 29 May 2024. The resident remains unhappy with the landlord’s response as she does not believe it provided her with the information she asked for.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s:
   1. Response to queries about service charges.
   2. Complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

3. We have found that there was:
   1. Maladministration in the landlord’s response to queries about service charges.
   2. Service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling.

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

Reasons

4. 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.

Response to queries about service charges

5. On 5 February 2024 the resident asked the landlord to provide a breakdown of its charges, confirm how it apportioned costs, and to confirm if its service charge calculations were correct as it said she owed £1,700. It is understood that the information related to the 2022 to 2023 accounting period.
6. Under section 21 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, the landlord must provide a summary of service charge costs within one month of a request. The resident asked for this on 5 February 2024. The landlord did not send the required summary. Instead, it resent the actuals in February 2024 and then sent section 20 quotes in March 2024. When the resident said it had not provided the summary information, the landlord did not respond. It failed to recognise its error at that time and despite the resident’s repeated contact it took no further action.
7. Within its stage 1 response from 16 July 2024 the landlord accepted it did not respond in a timely manner and apologised. It said it was reviewing charges for 2022 to 2023 and would contact the resident on 16 July 2024. It did not do this. Within its stage 2 response it said it would respond by 12 August 2024. It did not meet this timeframe again and there is no evidence to show it provided the summary information.
8. The resident also asked the landlord to explain how it apportioned costs and for it to confirm if its calculations for the deficit of £1,700 was correct. The landlord took 5 months (from February 2024 to July 2024) to say it would look into the apportionment/percentage split. Although it accepted in July 2024 that the percentage “may be slightly high,” it did not confirm the correct amount.  The landlord missed opportunities to resolve this as part of its internal complaints process. It has told us that its lack of response was due to an “oversight”, however it has not provided evidence to show it responded to the resident’s queries.
9. The landlord’s handling of the resident’s queries about service charges is not appropriate and, for the reasons mentioned, amounts to maladministration.
10. During its internal complaints process, the landlord offered the resident £320 to acknowledge its poor communication, delay and the time spent pursuing matters between February 2024 and July 2024. As there is no evidence to show the issue has been resolved and the landlord did not do what it said it would, it is appropriate to increase the compensation amount.
11. The landlord’s compensation offer of £320 was its recognition of a 5 month delay. However, as the issue remains unresolved, we have decided it is appropriate to increase the compensation amount to £500.
12. The total compensation amount of £500 falls within the maladministration banding of our remedies guidance and is appropriate to acknowledge the distress, inconvenience, time and trouble caused to the resident over a significant time. The amount is inclusive of the £320 already offered.

Complaint handling

13. The resident raised her complaint on 29 May 2024. The landlord acknowledged this on the same day and on 30 May 2024 it said it would provide a response within 10 working days, as per its complaints policy. Instead it took almost 7 weeks to issues its stage 1 response on 16 July 2024 and it did not keep the resident updated during this time. The landlord recognised its delay within its stage 1 response, apologised and offered £35 compensation.
14. The landlord’s compensation policy, applicable at that time, allows for payments between £50 to £100 for poor complaint handling with low level impact. This is in line with our remedies guidance for instances of service failure.
15. When considering the landlord’s stage 1 delay and its failure to apply its own its compensation policy we have found a service failure. It is noted that the landlord’s stage 2 response was issued within 20 working days, as per its complaints policy. In the circumstances, we have decided it is suitable to increase the landlord’s compensation amount to £75.

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.