GreenSquareAccord Limited (202343731)

Background

1. The resident lives with her children in the property. The landlord is aware that the resident and her family have vulnerabilities. Her boiler broke down in January 2024 which left the property without heating or hot water. She complained about the delays in the landlord proving a suitable repair. She said the delays left her family in an extremely vulnerable condition in the cold weather due to their health conditions.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s:
   1. Handling of repairs to the heating and hot water system.
   2. Complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

3. We found there was reasonable redress in the landlord’s:
   1. Handling of repairs to the heating and hot water system.
   2. Complaint handling.

Reasons

The landlord’s handling of the repairs to the heating and hot water system

4. The tenancy agreement makes the landlord responsible for the repairs to the heating and hot water system.
5. On 8 January 2024, the resident reported that her boiler was making a noise and she had no heating or hot water. The landlord sent an operative on 9 January 2024 who did not identify any issues. However, the resident reported loss of hot water and heating again on the same day after the operative left.
6. The landlord re-booked the job on 10 January 2024. An operative attended the property on 17 January 2024 and placed an order for boiler parts. On 5 February 2024 an operative attended the property again and conducted a repair. The landlord does not have a clear record of the outcome of this visit. In any event, this repair did not work as the resident reported that she did not have heating or hot water again on 8 February 2024.
7. The landlord sent operatives to the property again on 9 February and 22 February 2024.  On the second visit, the operative noted that a heat exchanger was fitted and that the system was operational. However, the landlord acknowledges that it does not have a clear record of the outcome of this visit.
8. Despite the repair visit of 22 February 2024, the resident continued to experience problems with the loss of heating and hot water. The landlord sent operatives again over the following days. An operative attended the property on 4 March 2024 and said that the heating and hot water were working. The resident disputed this. On 15 March 2024, the   operative who attended managed to fully repair the boiler.
9. The landlord’s responsive repairs policy states thatemergency repairswill be attended within 4 hours and completed within 24 hours. The policy notes that urgent repairs will be completed within 7 days. The landlord’s discretionary compensation procedure suggests that the loss of heating is considered an emergency between 1 October and 31 March.
10. The landlord ought to have completed a sustainable repair to the heating and hot water system within 24 hours, as per its policies and procedures. The landlord was also aware of vulnerabilities in the resident’s family, so should have ensured that a sustainable repair was provided within 24 hours. However, there was a significant delay of 66 days. We acknowledge the landlord tried to repair the issue and provided the resident with temporary heaters. However, it ultimately required multiple visits by its operatives to fully complete the repairs.
11. The landlord apologised offered the resident £1,722 as a remedyat stage 1 of its complaints process in February 2024. It identified repair delays of 45 days. Its offer included £250 for the delays, £300 for distress and inconvenience, £25 for failure to raise one job correctly, £112.50 for loss of hot water, £225 for loss of heating, and £820 for the cost of using temporary heaters.
12. The landlord apologised and offered the resident an additional £734 at stage 2 of its complaints process in April 2024. It identified additional repair delays of 19 days. Its offer included £47.50 for loss of hot water, £95 for loss of heating, £342 for cost of using temporary heaters, £25 for failure to contact her once, and £150 for additional distress.
13. The landlord also said that it was sorry to hear that the resident’s daughter had been unwell over the repair delays period. It clarified that any health-related claims for compensation would need to be raised with its insurers and then explained how to do this. We can also clarify that it would be fairer, more reasonable and more effective for the resident to make a personal injury claim for any injury caused. The courts are best placed to deal with this subject as they will have the benefit of independent medical advice to decide on the cause of injury and how long it will last. We cannot make a finding on this. However, we have considered the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident on this case.
14. The resident told us that she did not consider the landlord’s apology to be empathetic as she and her family had faced considerable difficulties over the delay period. She said that she also spent a lot of time in getting the landlord to sort things out in this matter, and she still has to do this for other ongoing issues.
15. Taking into account our guidance on remedies and the circumstances of this particular complaint, we consider that the redress offered is in line with an award we would make. The compensation offered fairly recognises the impact caused to the resident.
16. The resident is aware that the landlord’s complaints process is open to her, as part of resolving any other issues. We are only able to consider such new matters, once the landlord’s complaints process has been exhausted.

The landlord’s complaint handling

17. The resident raisedher complaint on 17 January 2024. The landlord issued its stage 1 response on 23February 2024 which was 7 working days outside the timescale set out in our Complaint Handling Code (the Code).
18. The resident escalated her complaint on 25 February 2024. The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 11 April 2024. This was due to the landlord delaying acknowledgement of the escalation until 13 March 2024. As such, the landlord’s stage 2 response was issued outside 20 working days as set out in the Code. As part of its overall remedy, the landlord apologised and offered £100 for its failure to escalate the resident’s complaint.
19. In line with our guidance on remedies, we consider that the landlord has provided reasonable redress for the failings around timeliness in its complaints handling. We also note that the landlord has provided a remedy for the resident’s distress and inconvenience over the repair delay period, some of which would have overlapped with the delays identified in complaint handling and the impact on the resident.