Clarion Housing Association Limited (202207114)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202207114

Clarion Housing Association Limited

5 May 2023

 

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:
    1. The landlord’s handling of repairs to the resident’s boiler.
    2. The level of compensation awarded as redress to the complaint.

Background

  1. The resident holds an assured tenancy with the landlord and resides in a first floor, two-bedroom flat.
  2. A new boiler was installed in the resident’s property on 20 July 2021. The resident began reporting outages of heating and hot water to the landlord in October 2021, which continued intermittently.
  3. Contractors attended the property on occasions to attend repairs. However, after attendance the boiler would frequently break down again on the same or following day.
  4. The resident raised a stage one complaint on 13 March 2022 due to delays for boiler repairs to be completed, multiple visits from contractors with no long-term resolution, and poor communication from the landlord.
  5. The landlord identified service failure in its stage one complaint response for repairs to the boiler not successfully addressing the issue for several months, the landlord not communicating effectively with the resident, and for three missed appointments. An offer of £1,035 compensation was made to the resident. This was made up of:
    1. £45 for three missed appointments on 8 January 2022, 26 January 2022, and 2 February 2022.
    2. £370 for total loss of heating between 7 December 2021 until 8 February 2022, and 15 February 2022 until 10 March 2022.
    3. £370 for total loss of hot water between 7 December 2021 until 8 February 2022, and 15 February 2022 until 10 March 2022.
    4. £250 for delays to boiler repairs.
  6. The resident remained dissatisfied with the compensation offer and requested escalation of his complaint to stage two. He advised that the compensation was less than the amount he had received in 2020 when he was previously without heating and hot water for a week.
  7. Following this, on 22 May 2022 the resident requested additional compensation for the time he was without heating and hot water from 10 March 2022 until 21 May 2022.
  8. The landlord issued its stage two complaint response on 26 July 2022. Within this, it advised that a new water tank cylinder had been installed on 21 May 2022. The landlord advised that as compensation was offered at stage one covering the issues with the heating and hot water system, no further compensation would be offered. It however offered an additional £250 for the landlord’s complaint handling and £50 for delays to respond at stage two.
  9. The resident referred his complaint to this Ombudsman on 7 July 2022 explaining he is dissatisfied that he has not been compensated for the period he was without heating and hot water between 10 March 2022 until 21 May 2022. He requests a total of £2,000 compensation for the boiler issues and lack of heating and hot water throughout the complaints process.

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s handling of repairs to the resident’s boiler

  1. The landlord’s ‘repairs responsibility’ section on its website outlines that it is responsible for the repairs of gas appliances, boilers and cylinders.
  2. The landlord’s repairs and maintenance policy outlines that non-emergency repairs will be offered within 28 calendar days of the repairs being reported, with emergency repairs being attended to within 24 hours. Emergency repairs are those classified as ones that present immediate danger to the resident, or would jeopardise the health, safety, or security of the resident.
  3. Contractors attended to the resident’s reports of issues with the boiler within 24 hours for those recorded as emergency call outs, and 28 days for non-emergency repairs. However, there was a significant delay between the resident’s initial report of issues with his boiler in October 2021 and the water tank being replaced, fixing the boiler on 21 May 2022. The seven-month delay to repair the boiler was unacceptable and further disruption was caused by numerous contractor visits to the property attending to ‘breakdowns’, ‘recall breakdowns’ and ‘water leaks’. The landlord acknowledged in its stage one response that it failed to resolve the boiler issue in a timely manner which resulted in repeated visits. However, it accounted for the delays only until 10 March 2022 when it stated the issues had been ‘fully resolved’. The landlord should have accounted for the full extent of the delays until 21 May 2022 and by not doing so, it undermined the failures.
  4. This Ombudsman’s spotlight report on heating and hot water recommends that when a problem with heating and hot water cannot be resolved quickly, the landlord should ensure residents are provided with a clear timescale for repairs. The landlord failed to keep the resident regularly updated on the cause and timescale of the boiler repairs. This was despite him frequently requesting information about the outstanding repairs and asking to speak to a manager. The resident was not responded to on several occasions despite assurances that his calls would be returned. The landlord undermined the landlord tenant relationship by not responding to the resident in a timely manner, or providing clear timescales of when the repairs would be completed.
  5. The resident informed the landlord that not having a fully functioning heating and hot water system resulted in him being unable to wash, do laundry, or wash dishes during winter. He advised that his flat was cold, damp, and unsuitable for living in. Despite the landlord providing the resident with two temporary heaters on 23 November 2021, the resident did not have an immersion heater in his property and had no assurances he would be able to access facilities to wash during periods of no hot water. The landlord did not assess the detriment caused to the resident within its complaint responses. It should have carried out an assessment based on the failures, taking into consideration all factors including no immersion heater in the property. In light of the above failings, there was maladministration for the landlord’s handling of the boiler repairs.

The level of compensation awarded as redress to the complaint.

  1. When failings are identified, this Service’s role is to consider whether the redress offered by the landlord has put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in all the circumstances of the case. This is in accordance with our dispute resolution principles to be fair, put things right and learn from outcomes.
  2. The landlord offered £250 compensation at stage one to account for an ‘overall low impact for 6-9 months’ of delays to boiler repairs including the time taken, inconvenience, failure to follow process, customer chasing and repeated visits. It acknowledged that the resident often chased for updates and requested call backs from managers which were not returned.
  3. This Service’s remedies guidance, available to read at https://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Remedies-Guidance-September-2022.pdf provides for compensation awards of between £100 to £600 in cases where there has been a failure which has adversely affected the resident.
  4. The landlord’s complaints policy states that awards of £250 to £700 may include instances where there are failures over a considerable time to act in accordance with policy. For example, to address repairs. The landlord’s offer of £250 compensation for a ‘low impact’ is not proportionate to the length of time the resident had intermittent heating and hot water, the poor communication from the landlord regarding the repairs, or the substantial impact to the resident over the seven-month period. As such, redress of £600 is considered appropriate to reflect the considerable failures and detriment caused to the resident.
  5. This Service considers the compensation offered by the landlord for three missed appointments as being reasonable and in line with the landlord’s compensation policy. The compensation policy outlines that failure to keep an appointment without giving 24 hours’ notice amounts to an offer of £15. The landlord applied £15 for each missed appointment.
  6. The landlord’s compensation policy states that where a resident has a loss of amenity such as heating (when temporary heating is provided) or hot water because of an outstanding repair, compensation at a rate of £5 per day will be offered after seven days of the initial report. This allows for circumstances where the landlord attends an appointment within time but needs to order a part to complete the repair.
  7. The landlord compensated the resident in line with its compensation policy for two continuous periods which the landlord identified him being without heating and hot water in his property (7 December 2021 until 8 February 2022, and 15 February 2022 until 10 March 2022). However, the landlord’s repairs log shows no heating and hot water in the property continuously between 11 February 2022 and 21 May 2022 which does not align with the dates which the resident has been compensated for.
  8.  A separate repair log shows that a boiler part was replaced on 10 March 2022 and the contractor left with ‘no further works required’. The resident then reported further outages two days later, implying that the outage was not continuous as separate records suggest. The information provided by the landlord shows inconsistencies as to when the resident was without heating and hot water.
  9. Due to the conflicting information and dates, this Service sought clarification from the landlord who confirmed the resident experienced a complete outage of heating and hot water between 11 February 2022 until 21 May 2022. In light of this, the landlord’s compensation offer for no hot water and heating between 15 February 2022 until 10 March 2022 is insufficient to cover the failings and highlights poor record keeping by the landlord. This Service would expect landlords to keep accurate records and offer compensation redressing the period for which the resident was without heating and hot water.
  10. As the landlord has confirmed the resident was without heating and hot water from 11 February 2022, but only compensated from 15 February 2022, the landlord failed to address the four previous days of the outage. In light of this, compensation of £40 (£20 for no hot water and £20 for no heating) has been calculated to reflect the additional days the resident was without heating and hot water.
  11. For the period between 11 March until 21 May 2022, the landlord failed to compensate the resident for over two months of no heating and hot water continuously. Although in its stage two response, the landlord acknowledged that a new water tank had been installed on 21 May 2022 (which ultimately repaired the boiler), it did not identify any failings for this period.
  12. This Service has calculated a compensation award of £360 for no heating and £360 for no hot water using the landlord’s compensation policy to address the 72 days of continuous boiler outage in the resident’s property between 11 March 2022 until 21 May 2022 (following on from the landlord’s compensation applied up until 10 March 2022, reflecting the continuous outage).
  13. In light of the above failings, this Service’s remedies guidance and the landlord’s financial redress and compensation policy, the landlord is ordered to pay the resident a total of £1,110 compensation, in addition to the £1,335 previously offered.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of The Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the resident’s boiler.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of The Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the level of compensation awarded to the resident as redress.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within four weeks of the date of this report the landlord is to pay £2,445 compensation to the resident, comprising:
    1. £600 for delays to boiler repairs taking into account the high impact on the resident including time taken, inconvenience, failure to follow process, resident chasing and repeated visits. This amount includes the £250 previously offered by the landlord.
    2. £740 for no heating and no hot water as previously offered by the landlord for the period between 7 December 2021 until 8 February 2022 and 15 February 2022 until 10 March 2022 (£370 for no hot water and £370 for no heating).
    3. £40 for no heating and hot water from 11 February 2022 until 14 February 2022 (£20 respectively for each).
    4. £720 for no heating and no hot water for 72 days for the period between 11 March 2022 and 21 May 2022 (£360 respectively for each).
    5. £45 for missed appointments as previously offered by the landlord.
    6. £250 for poor complaint handling and £50 for delay responding to peer review as previously offered by the landlord.
  2. Evidence of compliance with the above orders should be shared with the Housing Ombudsman within four weeks of the date of this report.

Recommendation

  1. The landlord is recommended to carry out a review of its record-keeping (and that of contractors) to ensure it is robust.