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City of Doncaster Council (202320184)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202320184

City of Doncaster Council

17 April 2025

 

Our approach

The Housing Ombudsman’s approach to investigating and determining complaints is to decide what is fair in all the circumstances of the case. This is set out in the Housing Act 1996 and the Housing Ombudsman Scheme (the Scheme). The Ombudsman considers the evidence and looks to see if there has been any ‘maladministration’, for example, whether the landlord has failed to keep to the law, followed proper procedure, followed good practice, or behaved in a reasonable and competent manner.

Both the resident and the landlord have submitted information to the Ombudsman, and this has been carefully considered. Their accounts of what has happened are summarised below. This report is not an exhaustive description of all the events that have occurred in relation to this case, but an outline of the key issues as a background to the investigation’s findings.

The complaint

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
    1. The delays in its out of hours telephone number being answered.
    2. The associated complaint.

Background and summary of events

Background

  1. The resident is a secure tenant of the landlord, which is a Local Authority. The property is a 3-bedroom house. The tenancy started in October 2001.

Summary of events

  1. On 5 March 2023 the resident found a leak from her boiler which caused a flood in her kitchen.
  2. The resident complained to the landlord on 6 March 2023. She said her boiler was leaking causing water damage to her kitchen floor. As such, she contacted its out of hours emergency repairs phone line but no one answered the phone. The resident said she had no choice but to call an emergency independent plumber. This resulted in her paying the plumber £251 which she was asking the landlord to reimburse.
  3. The landlord issued its stage 1 provisional complaint response on 13 March 2023. The landlord said it had passed the resident’s complaint to the Local Authority (LA) as they deal with its out of hours contact number.
  4. The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response on 27 June 2023. The landlord said:
    1. Its investigations found that the resident called the out of hours contact number 5 times in an hour. It said the resident waited on hold for 2 minutes on average before hanging up.
    2. Due to the volume of calls its out of hours service received that day, it was unable to answer the call as quickly as it would have liked.
    3. It did not find the waiting times the resident experienced to be unreasonable. It said it expected its residents to have patience whilst the service was dealing with other calls which were also urgent in nature.
    4. It was unable to offer compensation for the resident providing her own plumber as it was the resident’s decision to do so. Also, this was not something the landlord would authorise.
  5. The resident contacted the landlord on 30 June 2023 and requested it escalate the complaint to stage 2. The resident said:
    1. The landlord incorrectly said she complained on 15 March 2023 when she complained on 6 March 2023.
    2. She disagreed that her call times were not long enough to its out of hours emergency repairs phone line. She said some calls were 2 minutes and others 4 minutes.
    3. During the calls she was not told she was in a queue or that it was dealing with a high number of calls.
    4. That callers should have been told how many calls were in the queue.
    5. The landlord should have enough call handlers to cover the emergency repairs phone line.
    6. She had to call a private emergency plumber as the leak in her kitchen needed fixing urgently.
    7. She was seeking to be reimbursed for the costs incurred for paying a private plumber.
  6. The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response on 9 August 2023. The landlord said:
    1. It was incorrect in its response dated 13 March 2023 as it was responsible for investigating the resident’s complaint.
    2. Its target is to answer 95% of calls within 20 seconds. Its investigation found that on the day of the resident calling its out of hours service the longest call on hold was 4 minutes. It did not find a 4 minute wait to be unreasonable or sufficient reason for the resident to hire a private plumber.
    3. It confirmed that it had 2 hours to attend an emergency repair. Therefore, based on the call waiting times of its out of hours service there was sufficient time to answer the call. Also, for it to attend within its emergency response time.
    4. It regularly reviews call answering times. Also, the LA ensures that there is sufficient staffing levels to respond to emergency repair requests.
    5. It offered the resident £50 in compensation due to its complaint handling failure.
  7. In bringing the complaint to this Service the resident is wanting to be reimbursed for the cost of a private plumber. Also, compensation for the length of time she was affected.

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s handling of the delays in its out of hours telephone number being answered

  1. The tenancy agreement required the landlord to keep and proper working order any installation. This mirrored its repair obligations of section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, that a repair must be completed within a reasonable period of time.
  2. The landlord’s repair policy sets out target times for repairs. This states it will complete emergency repairs within 2 hours, urgent repairs within 5 days and non-urgent repairs within 20 days.
  3. It also states that access for emergency repairs out of normal working hours is available using its free phone or landline numbers. This is after 7pm during weekdays, and during the weekend, all repair calls are handled by the LA. Only those repairs categorised as emergencies in priority A which includes repairs which constitute a real risk of death or injury or could lead to major damage to the property. Also, priority B which includes a total loss of water, gas or electricity supply are dealt with out of office hours, unless vulnerability applies.  If the reported repair was deemed as urgent or non-urgent repair, then an appointment will be given to complete the work.
  4. In this case, the resident found a leak from her boiler on 5 March 2023. As this was over the weekend, she contacted the landlord’s out of hours emergency repair phone line. The resident complained to the landlord on 6 March 2023 that she had attempted to contact its out of hours emergency repairs phone line but was unsuccessful. The resident said she contacted the phone line several times and was not aware during the calls that she was in a queue.
  5. As this Service was not present during the calls, it is not possible for us to determine what actually happened. Therefore, it is for the Ombudsman to consider the available evidence and to decide whether the landlord’s response was reasonable, and appropriate, in the circumstances. Taking this into account, this investigation will focus on whether the landlord investigated the resident’s concerns and conducted a thorough investigation.
  6. As part of its investigation, the landlord contacted the LA who confirmed that the resident had contacted the out of hours service 5 times over an hour. It found that the resident waited on hold on average approximately 2 minutes per call. It confirmed that its performance target was to answer 95% of calls within 20 seconds This was appropriate as the landlord sought full oversight of the issues the resident complained about. This enabled the landlord to provide clear responses which was reasonable.
  7. The landlord provided reassurance that it regularly reviewed its call answering times. Also, it ensured that it has sufficient staffing levels to respond to residents’ emergency repair requests. This was reasonable as the landlord showed the resident it was taking the matter seriously.
  8. While the landlord’s actions were reasonable it was understandable that the resident was keen to get the leak repaired with urgency. Also, for it to recognise that some inconvenience was caused. The landlord appropriately considered the wait times from when the resident attempted contact. It also considered whether the challenges the resident reported would have impacted on delivering its emergency repair times. However, it found that despite it not answering within its 20 second call target given it had 2 hours to respond to emergency repairs it found it was a reasonable wait time. The landlord’s response was appropriate as it provided a clear response to the resident’s concerns.
  9. While this Service appreciates the resident’s concern that she was not notified during the call of any anticipated wait times. While it would have been customer focused the landlord was not required to do this. There is also no evidence that the call would not have been answered. The landlord may wish to consider implementing an auto recorded message on its out of hours service. Therefore, a recommendation has been made for this.
  10. Overall, the landlord took positive steps in its investigation in providing clear explanations. Although this Service recognise that the resident was caused some inconvenience, there has been no maladministration by the landlord in respect of its handling of the of the delays in its out of hours telephone number being answered.

The associated complaint

  1. The Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code) was introduced with the aim of improving complaint handling across the housing sector. As a member of the Scheme, the landlord is obliged to establish and maintain a complaints procedure in accordance with any good practice recommended by the Ombudsman.
  2. In accordance with its complaint’s procedure, the landlord’s response to residents’ complaints at stage 1 is required within 10 working days of the complaint and the stage 2 response in 20 working days. Where these timescales are not possible, this will be communicated to the resident.
  3. The resident initially complained to the landlord on 6 March 2023. The landlord initially provided its stage 1 complaint response on 13 March 2023. This was in line with its complaint procedure and the Code. However, it incorrectly advised the resident to contact the LA as it was responsible for the out of hours emergency repair line. As such, the resident contacted the LA and was referred back to the landlord on 8 June 2023. The landlord subsequently reopened the complaint on 16 June 2023. The landlord issued its further stage 1 complaint response on 27 June 2023 which was nearly 4 months after the resident initially complained.
  4. While the landlord responded in line with its complaint procedure and Code, its failure to address the resident’s complaint initially was a failing. This adversely affected the resident and caused her unnecessary time and trouble requesting a response from the LA. Also, having to contact the landlord for a further response. This was a missed opportunity for the landlord to respond to the resident’s concerns at its earliest opportunity.
  5. In its stage 2 complaint response dated 9 August 2023 the landlord acknowledged and apologised for its failing regarding its stage 1 delay. It offered the resident compensation of £50 due to failing to initially respond to her complaint. The landlord also confirmed it had provided additional training to its customer relations team.
  6. In the Ombudsman’s opinion, the total amount of compensation proportionately reflects the impact to the resident and is broadly in line with our guidance for findings of a service failure. Therefore, the landlord has offered reasonable redress in relation to its handling of the associated complaint.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was no maladministration in respect of the landlord’s handling of the delays in its out of hours telephone number being answered.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 53(b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of the associated complaint.

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord consider implementing an auto recorded message on its out of hours service.