South Kesteven District Council (202116761)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202116761

South Kesteven District Council

13 December 2021


Our approach

Under our early resolution process, the Ombudsman works with the resident and landlord to explore the issues in dispute, identify the matters that remain outstanding and assist in reaching an agreed settlement.

The complaint

  1. The resident complained about the:
    1. Conduct of the landlord’s member of staff.
    2. Landlord’s response to their report that their gate had been damaged by the member of staff.
    3. Landlord’s request that they remove items from outside of the property.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 55 (c) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress following the Ombudsman’s intervention which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.

How the complaint was resolved

  1. The resident raised a formal complaint to the landlord about the behaviour of a member of staff who attended their property. They complained that they found it inappropriate that the landlord had asked them to remove items from the front of the property, as they were recovering from an operation and had already made prior arrangements for the items to be removed.
  2. The landlord recorded the formal complaint and provided its final response on 20 October 2021. Its response explained that it had carried out a thorough review of the resident’s complaint issues, and it had offered the resident an apology. Regarding the reported damage to the gate, it said that it did not believe that there was any evidence that confirmed that this was caused by its member of staff.
  3. The resident referred the complaint to this Service and explained that they remained unhappy with the outcome because:
    1. They believed that the staff member’s behaviour towards them was not pleasant;
    2. They had not received a response from the landlord to their request that it inspect the reported damage to the gate;
    3. They felt it was inappropriate for the landlord to ask them to remove the items from the front of the property when they had already had arrangements in place for the removal.

The resident said that to resolve the complaint they wanted the landlord offer compensation to the amount of £350. This was to cover the cost of replacing the damaged gate and for the staff member’s behaviour.

  1. This Service contacted the landlord, on 18 November 2021, with the details of the resident’s outstanding issues and the outcome they were seeking.
  2. The landlord responded and informed that it had it had inspected the gate and found no damage. It accepted that the staff member’s behaviour had fallen below its standards and it confirmed that it had offered its apologies for this. In respect of its request that the resident remove the items from the front of the property, it acknowledged that by the time it made the request, the resident had previously arranged for the items to be removed. It said that it did not believe that the compensation amount requested by the resident was appropriate and it put forward an alternative offer of £50 compensation. It explained that this was in recognition of the distress caused to the resident.
  3. We wrote to the resident with the landlord’s response and offer of compensation, on 1 December 2021. They responded that the landlord had not inspected the gate, as to do so would have required access via another gate which had remained locked. They said however, that they would accept the landlord’s offer of compensation. The resident reiterated this during a follow up call the same day.
  4. On 2 December this Service wrote to the landlord confirming the resident’s position regarding its offer of compensation. We also informed the landlord that the resident had disputed the gate had been inspected, due to the access requirements needed to do so.
  5. Paragraph 55 (c) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states that:
    1. “At any time, the Ombudsman may determine the investigation of a complaint immediately if satisfied that the member has made an offer of redress following the Ombudsman’s intervention which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily. This will result in a finding of ‘resolved with intervention’.”
  6. The resident has confirmed that they accept the landlord’s offer of compensation as a resolution to their complaint. I am therefore satisfied, following the intervention of this Service, that the landlord has now taken actions to remedy the matters raised which resolve the complaint satisfactorily.

Recommendations

  1. The landlord pay the resident the £50 compensation offered, within three weeks of the date of this report.