Jigsaw Homes Group Limited (202336871)

Background

1. The resident lived in a 1-bedroom ground floor low rise flat. She has functional neurological disease and complex needs which the landlord is aware of. She reported issues with her boiler to the landlord. She has since moved to a privately rented property.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s:
   1. Handling of reports of boiler issues.
   2. Complaints handling.

Our decision (determination)

3. There was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of reports of boiler issues.
4. There was service failure in the landlord’s complaints handling.

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

Summary of reasons

5. The landlord took 16 days to deal with an emergency repair. It did not fully consider the resident’s known vulnerabilities when she reported the repair.
6. There was a delay with acknowledging the complaint.

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.

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.

7. The tenancy agreement states that the landlord will keep gas and water heating systems in good repair and working order. It commits to responding to emergency repairs within 24 hours and urgent repairs within 5 working days. A failure of heating and water systems during extended cold periods is classed as an emergency. The landlord requests that residents report emergencies by phone. However, the repairs policy also says it will consider individual tenant needs when handling repair requests.
8. Prior to the resident moving into the property, the landlord had a copy of an occupational health report which detailed her medical history. It was aware of her vulnerabilities. There is no evidence that the landlord discussed with the resident as part of the letting process any reasonable adjustments she might need during her tenant.
9. The information in the occupational health reports suggests the resident has a disability. Disability is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. The landlord must consider how its decisions affect people with protected characteristics and make reasonable adjustments where needed. The Ombudsman cannot decide whether the landlord breached the Equality Act 2010 like a court can. However, we can consider whether the landlord followed its procedure, processes and best practice.
10. The resident moved into the property on 18 December 2023. The landlord carried out a full gas check that day in line with its re-let standards. On 19 December 2023, the resident emailed the landlord to report no heating and hot water, a red light on the boiler and unusual noises.
11. The landlord tried to call her back the same day but got no answer. It left a voicemail message asking her to call to log a repair. It sent a follow up email advising her to phone if she had no heating or hot water. The landlord followed its procedure here to attempt to make contact. It sought to arrange a visit. However, its procedure emphasised telephone communication. The resident was unable to make calls and so the repair was not arranged. Given that the resident has protected characteristics under the Equality Act, the landlord should have considered reasonable adjustments, such as arranging the repairs by email.
12. The landlord had notice that the boiler was not working. Its policy emphasises phone contact for emergencies, but non-emergency repairs can be reported by email. Since it could not arrange an emergency repair, it should have considered proceeding as an urgent repair and provide an appointment within 5 days. However, between 19 December and 27 December 2023, the landlord did not seek to effect repairs despite knowing the resident did not have a functioning boiler.
13. On Saturday 23 December 2023, the resident emailed the landlord again. She said she had no working phone and still had no heating or hot water. This should have been handled as an emergency by the out of hours team within 24 hours. As a result of the landlord not having the right systems in place to deal with the matter by email, the resident remained without heating and hot water over the Christmas period.
14. The landlord replied by email on the next working day, 27 December 2023. It asked if she would be at home for the next 24 hours so it could arrange an appointment. It was good that the landlord now sought to arrange the appointment by email. There is no evidence she responded. The landlord did not take any further action to effect a repair.
15. On 30 December 2023, a utility company engineer attended but he could not ignite the boiler, so he capped the gas for safety. He provided an electric heater and issued a gas safety warning. He called the landlord’s out-of-hours service, who said an engineer would attend that day as an emergency. This was an appropriate response, however the on-call engineer stated he could not reconnect the supply during an emergency call-out. The out-of-hours team tried to phone the resident to share this information but got no answer. The landlord was aware that all the resident’s communications had been via email. It should have proceeded to use this method of contact with the resident.
16. On 3 January 2024, the resident visited the housing office. She said she had been without hot water or heating for 2 weeks. She handed over the gas safety warning notice. Customer services sent this to the gas team and asked them to contact the resident’s mother as her phone was not working.
17. The resident returned to the housing office twice on 4 January 2024. At 11.15am, the landlord said an engineer would attend after noon. It is unclear if this appointment had been booked the day before or that day. At 3.15pm, she returned as no one had attended yet. The landlord said the engineer was on his way. The engineer uncapped the gas, commissioned appliances, replaced the ignitor and fully tested the boiler.
18. The resident was without heating and hot water for 16 calendar days. The landlord did make attempts to contact the resident. It initially did this by phone and when it did not get hold of the resident, it left messages for her to contact it by phone. However, these were all reactive following contact from the resident. In the days that the resident did not contact the landlord it was noting arranging the repairs. Between 20 and 27 December 2023, 29 December 2023 and 31 December to 3 January 2024 no action was taken. If it could not be dealt with as an emergency because the resident is unable to make a call, it should have been handled as an urgent repair within 5 days. The initial implementation of the landlord’s procedure meant anyone unable to make or receive calls could not access its emergency repair service.
19. The landlord requires emergency repairs to be reported by phone and its out-of-hours service is telephone-only. However, the resident made the landlord aware by email that the boiler was not working. When the landlord was unable to get the resident by phone it should have prioritised email communication. The landlord acknowledged this issue in its complaint response and identified a need for better options for customers unable to use the phone. However, there is no evidence of any changes being made.
20. It is unreasonable to expect residents to report emergency repairs only by phone. Difficulty using the telephone is not unique to this resident. Some vulnerabilities and disabilities create barriers to telephone communication and reasonable adjustments may be needed under the Equality Act. The landlord should explore alternative ways to report emergencies, such as online reporting, web chat, or text messaging. By not adopting alternatives, it is failing to make reasonable adjustments.
21. The resident was left without hot water and heating for 16 days and the landlord did not fully address her vulnerabilities in its approach to resolve the issue. This amounts to maladministration. We have made an order for compensation.

22. The landlord’s complaints policy states that it will acknowledge stage 1 complaints within 5 working days. It will respond to stage 1 complaints within 10 working days, which can be extended for complex cases. It will respond to stage 2 complaints within 20 working days, which can be extended for complex cases.
23. The landlord defines a complaint as dissatisfaction about standard of service or actions by the landlord. On 1 January 2024, the resident emailed the landlord without stating it was a complaint, but the landlord correctly treated it as one. Although it was 2 days late, it was the right action to take.
24. The responses at stage 1 and 2 were detailed and well investigated. There is evidence of learning and attempts to put things right. However, the delay with acknowledging the stage 1 complaint amounts to a service failure.

Learning

25. The landlord should ensure it has carried out an Equality Impact Assessment of its policies to ensure they comply with the Equality Act 2010.

Communication

26. It is good that the landlord provided the resident with the email address for the out of hours service as a reasonable adjustment for the resident following the internal complaints procedure. The landlord should implement ways of reporting emergency repairs that allow for the needs of all residents.
27. The landlord should check and regularly review the communication preference of it’s residents to prevent misunderstandings.