The Guinness Partnership Limited (202114705)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202114705

The Guinness Partnership Limited

24 February 2022


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 level of compensation offered by the landlord following acknowledged service failures relating to its repairs service and associated complaints handling.

Background and summary of events

  1. The resident has been a tenant of the landlord for more than 15 years and at the current property since 2015. She lives with her children in a two-bedroom flat in a purpose-built block.  There were repair issues dating back to 2015, with the resident decanted for 8 months in 2019 whilst works were carried out. Compensation was paid for belongings that were destroyed at this time.

The tenancy agreement

  1. The tenancy agreement sets out the rights and responsibilities of both the resident and the landlord. Section 2.1.1 covers repairs and says that the landlord must maintain the structure of the resident’s home to include internal walls but not painting and decorating.

The repairs policy

  1. The landlord’s Responsive Repairs Policy says that routine repairs are those which are not emergencies and will be fixed in 28 calendar days. Annex two says that internal walls floors and ceilings are the responsibility of the landlord.

The complaints policy

  1. The landlord’s complaints policy says that stage one complaints will be responded to in 10 working days, and stage two in 20 working days.

The compensation policy

  1. The compensation policy was not provided by landlord, but an online compensation policy effective December 2021 includes at section 6.A, payment for a service failure in recognition of loss or damage and for distress and inconvenience. Section 35 has a table of compensation including a tariff between £250 and £700 for when ‘the issue took a long time to resolve and resulted in significant inconvenience having a demonstrable impact on the customer or the household.’

Summary of events

  1. The landlord’s records indicate that a job was raised on 7 August 2020 to repair damaged plaster and was shown as completed on 28 September 2020. A further job was raised on 15 October 2020 for minor works to the lounge and bedroom hairline cracks and was shown as completed on 9 November 2020.
  2. On 29 January 2021, the landlord logged a call from the resident chasing up a report from earlier that week about a leak from above. The landlord’s records indicate that the resident’s neighbours had refused access to their property (the potential source of the leak) as they had covid.
  3. The resident chased the repair on 8, 11 and 19 February 2021. The landlord’s complaint summary dated 24 February 2021 detailed that the resident had a disrepair claim in the past but did not want to pay for legal representation again. There had been ongoing complaints since February 2015 and the resident was decanted for 8 months in 2019 when works were carried out. Compensation was paid for furniture being destroyed. In November 2019 the resident complained about damp and mould, but the landlord did not attend until February 2020, some minor works were undertaken to repair cracks in September 2020, but they returned. The landlord visited the property in November 2020 and said a contractor would make contact. The resident made numerous calls and emails since then, but no work had been started.
  4. A complaint acknowledgment was sent on 25 February 2021, and the resident was advised that due to the impact of the Covid pandemic, the response would take 20 working days. 
  5. On 5 March 2021, the landlord raised an order for blown plaster work to be removed and redone. An auditor report dated 11 November 2020 indicated minor decoration cracks and gaps between the wall and skirting and that the resident had mentioned missing skirting board and dampness. It said that the property was reported as cold and asked that the heating be checked and to confirm that the radiators were an adequate size. On 8 March 2021, an appointment was made with resident for 16 March 2021.
  6. There were detailed inspection notes made on 16 March 2021 of damage to the hallway, lounge, kitchen, toilet and bedrooms and 128 photographs were taken, including those in respect of the leak from the above property.  
  7. On 7 April 2021, the resident was advised that an appointment in respect of the ceiling was booked that week, and another with the neighbour to locate and repair the leak.
  8. On 13 April 2021, the resident called the landlord for an update, as appointments were booked for 28 April and 20 May 2021, and she wanted them to be brought forward as there was a lot of damage and plaster was falling from the ceiling so the family could not use the area.
  9. The resident chased the landlord on 20 April 2021 and 27 April 2021 when she was told the complaint response time was extended as the landlord needed information from maintenance colleagues about start dates and specifications. The resident chased a response again on 5 May 2021 and the landlord noted she had not been called back on 21 May 2021. 
  10. The resident emailed the landlord on 3 June 2021:
    1. She had been a tenant for 15 years, was a widow and lived with her two children at property since 2015.
    2. The previous issues were discussed, including that the resident had been part reimbursed for losses of items destroyed.
    3. The resident said that damp still existed, walls were bowing, and plaster was soft to the touch.
    4. These problems had gone on for five years and the resident was having suicidal thoughts and the landlord ‘s failure to resolve would lead the resident to pursue the matter further.
  11. The landlord provided a stage two complaint response on 18 June 2021:
    1. The landlord summarised the complaint as being about a lack of action and information provided in relation to repairs to rectify the damp and mould in the resident’s home. The resident had requested compensation for the impact on the family’s health as well as the time taken to resolve the matter.
    2. The resident had made a complaint on 24 February 2021 which was not answered within 10 days. The landlord apologised for the increased frustration this caused.
    3. Due to the complexity of the repairs and the delays in completing them, the complaint could not be investigated in full before the complaint was closed, so the resident asked that it be escalated to stage two. The landlord’s had since changed its complaint process so all complaints would be responded to within 10 working days, and if repairs could not be done before that time, the landlord would detail any action and the expected timescales for completion. 
    4. A previous final response for a separate complaint was sent to the resident on 18 December 2020 about repairs and compensation was offered for inconvenience and items disposed of during repairs.
    5. The resident then reported plastering repairs outstanding, but no appointment was confirmed before 16 March 2021 when the surveyor identified repairs to rectify the plaster defects and arranged for a contractor to make an appointment.
    6. The appointment was not confirmed, and the landlord explained that due to the national lockdown, there was a backlog of repairs and the landlord apologised for letting the resident down again.
    7. The landlord now had a specification for the repairs to start week beginning 21 June 2021.
    8. The landlord offered £500 to include £100 for the delays in both stages of the complaint, £300 for the delays in the repair and the distress caused and £100 to acknowledge the communication failures. 
    9. Appeal rights to this Service were given.
  12. The landlord’s complaint log recorded ‘lessons learned’ as being that improvement was needed in service as the works were not done properly and there was no call back for weeks. It said the complaint was upheld as plaster works were not done properly the first time and had to be redone and the resident tried for weeks to get a call back.

Since the stage two response

  1. The resident contacted the landlord on 21 June 2021 and said she had been expecting a call for three weeks. On 2 July 2021 the resident reported that the contractor was unable to the complete the job on the day he attended, then he did not arrive, and she wished to log new complaint. On 9 July 2021 the resident called the landlord and asked for a call back. 
  2. On 16 Jul 2021 the resident called the landlord and said she had no response to her stage two complaint, she was expecting a revised offer and now wished to raise a further complaint regarding the lack of contact. This was followed by a further call on 23 July 2021 and an email on 26 August 2021 when the resident emailed the landlord and said she wanted compensation for the loss of space following the conclusion of the stage two complaint.
  3. On 22 September 2021, the landlord responded that further compensation was declined, the £500 already offered included delays with repairs, poor communication, inconvenience and the stress caused by the delay in repairs. The resident could now refer the matter to this Service. 

Assessment and findings

  1. This investigation relates to the complaint made in February 2021 concerning the return of the problems with the walls in the property around September 2020. The Ombudsman understands the previous issues beginning in 2019 have been compensated for and are shown above for context. The previous final response letter in December 2020 has not been provided by the resident, and it is the final response dated 18 June 2021 which has been brought to the Ombudsman for consideration. 
  2. The Ombudsman accepts that landlords will have experienced challenges in delivering services in light of the corona virus pandemic. However, a landlord would still be expected to maintain communication with residents to manage their expectations of the level of service which they could expect. It was a failure on its part to not communicate with the resident during this period to keep her informed. The landlord therefore exhibited failures in its handling of the repair by delaying excessively and not updating the resident on progress.
  3. The service failure relating to the repair and the complaint process are not in dispute and the complaint was upheld by the landlord. The landlord has been candid about the failings within the organisation and this is noted by the Ombudsman. It has also changed its complaint process so that a final response will not be delayed until work is completed, but rather the response will detail any outstanding actions and an expected date for them to be completed.  This is a more positive system and ensures that the resident is placed at the centre of the complaint, expectations are managed, and progress can be measured. The change was also in accordance with the Ombudsman’s complaint handling code, which requires landlord’s to operate a timely complaints process, even when issues might be ongoing.
  4. The landlord’s offer of £500 compensation is in line with its mid-range tariff of £250 to £700 for when ‘the issue took a long time to resolve and resulted in significant inconvenience having a demonstrable impact on the customer of the household’.
  5. A higher tariff, for compensation above £700, is shown as payable when ‘the issue took a long time to resolve and resulted in significant inconvenience having significant impact on the customer or the household which is likely to caused longer-term distress’. The landlord tariff does not provide separate figures for service failure etc, but bands showing total awards.
  6. An increase in the compensation to £700, to the top end of the middle range would be more appropriate here given that the issue was reported as having returned prior to the inspection in November 2020, and the repair work was not planned to start until 21 June 2021. The complaint was made on 24 February 2021 and not replied to, after being escalated to stage two, until 18 June 2021. The resident did contact the landlord again several times after the final response to discuss an increase, and there was further delay in work starting.  However, the resident had been given appeal rights to approach the Ombudsman by that time, so she was not further delayed in the appeal process by the inaction by the landlord in that instance.
  7. The landlord has not provided any policy which covers the loss the use of rooms but advised that this is accounted for in the offer made.  There was also a leak from the upstairs neighbour leading to one of the repairs undertaken by the landlord in this period, but as per section 19 and 20 of the landlord’s compensation policy, compensation would not be paid for this as it is expected that residents will have their own insurance to cover this eventuality. Given this, the sum of £700 awarded would take account the total distress and inconvenience of the landlord’s failure to respond to the repairs to walls throughout the property which were initially recorded as completed in September 2020.

Since the final response

  1. The landlord gave a start date for the works of week beginning 21 June 2021, but it appears from the correspondence after this, that the work was further delayed. Although not within the parameters of this investigation, the Ombudsman would hope to see the landlord manage the repairs to completion and if necessary, guide the resident through its internal complaints process in relation to this further issue. The resident has evidently had an unreasonable delay in this issue being resolved and it would be proper that this was given a high priority and managed until such time as the landlord and resident are agreed the repairs are complete.  

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 54 of the Scheme there was maladministration in the landlord’s response to the request for compensation in respect of its handling of the resident’s complaint.

Reasons

  1. The landlord’s offer of compensation did not provide reasonable and proportionate redress to the resident for the distress and inconvenience experienced as a result of the acknowledged service failures.

Orders

  1. Within four weeks of the date of this determination, the landlord to pay the resident a sum of £700 compensation, less any sum already paid. 

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord update the resident of the progress of any remaining repairs, and to consider a post works inspection of any such repairs to ensure the issue is not reoccurring.