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The Guinness Partnership Limited (202422438)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202422438

The Guinness Partnership Limited

18 August 2025

 

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 landlord’s handling of the resident’s rent account.
  2. The Ombudsman has also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord. The tenancy started in 2015. The property is a 2-bedrom house. The landlord has no vulnerabilities recorded for the household.
  2. The resident pays weekly rent by monthly direct debit. The rent increased in April 2023 and again in April 2024.
  3. On 4 April 2024, the resident contacted the landlord about a letter he had received. The landlord confirmed there were no true arrears on his rent account and it amended his direct debit amount for the following month in line with the new rent.
  4. The resident complained to the landlord on 14 June 2024 about a letter he had received about arrears. The resident said he thought his account was in credit. The landlord advised the resident that the full rent had not been covered following the rent increase in April 2023. It said the direct debit was still collecting the previous amount and this had used up the credit on the account. The resident was unhappy that his credit balance had been used.
  5. The landlord responded at stage 1 on 4 July 2024. It acknowledged that it had not changed the resident’s direct debit amount following a rent increase in May 2023. It said this was due to an error on its system. It said it had not reviewed the rent account prior to the resident receiving an arrears letter (which was issued automatically) in June 2024 because the account was in credit. The landlord confirmed the amounts taken from the account credit each month was the difference that was not collected from the direct debit. It said the resident was also responsible to ensure the correct amounts were paid. The landlord apologised and offered £75 compensation for time, trouble and inconvenience, and £25 for delays in its complaint handling.
  6. The resident escalated his complaint on 8 July 2024. He said the loss of credit on his rent account had left him vulnerable to unexpected financial problems. He said the credit had been used without his knowledge.
  7. The landlord provided its final response on 30 August 2024. It confirmed its findings at stage 1 about the rent account. It apologised and increased its offer of compensation to £200 for the time, trouble and inconvenience and £100 for its complaint handling delays.
  8. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response and offer of compensation. The resident wanted the landlord to replace the credit he had previously had on his rent account prior to the error.

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s rent account

  1. The tenancy agreement states the resident is to pay the total weekly rent in advance weekly.
  2. The landlord’s rent policy says it will review most rents in April each year. The information on its website states it notifies residents yearly of any changes to the weekly rent taking effect from the start of April. It says rent and service charge payments are usually due on the first of every month and direct debit is the main way to pay rent.
  3. The landlord’s arrears policy says residents are responsible for paying their rent on time. It will encourage new residents to set up direct debit payments. This is its preferred payment method in order to prevent residents from falling into arrears. The landlord will agree repayments that help residents to repay arrears as soon as it is reasonably possible. It will regularly monitor accounts in credit to prevent residents from accruing large credits.
  4. The landlord’s compensation policy says it may offer a compensation payment for distress and inconvenience caused when something has gone wrong, and it is at fault. It will offer compensation of up to £250 where an issue resulted in minor inconvenience, having some impact on the resident or the household.
  5. The evidence shows the landlord had not updated the resident’s direct debit amount in April 2023, following a rent increase. As a result of its failure to change the payment amount, the direct debit did not cover the full rent amount and the difference was taken from an existing credit on the rent account. The landlord or resident were unaware of this until the account went into arrears.
  6. The resident contacted the landlord on 5 April 2024 to discuss a letter received. We have not seen this letter. However, the landlord’s records noted the landlord advised the resident that arrears were not “true arrears” and changed the direct debit payment in line with the new charges from May 2024. The notes stated it set up a temporary arrangement for the balance to clear the next month. This action was in line with its arrears policy.
  7. The resident received further letters in June 2024 about arrears on his rent account. The landlord’s notes from a call with the resident on 14 June 2024 stated it advised the full charge was not taken in April 2024 because the direct debit had still been collecting the old charges at this point. The landlord told the resident the next payment would leave a balance of £27.33 and this would then be cleared in August 2024. There was no evidence that the resident incurred any charges or interest as a result of the incorrect direct debit payment.
  8. The evidence shows the correct direct debit amount was in place from May 2024 onwards. Therefore, the direct debit had been incorrect for 13 months. The landlord acknowledged its failure and explained this was due to an error on its system. In its complaint response, the landlord explained that it was also the residents responsibility to ensure the correct amounts were being paid from his bank account. This was reasonable, given that the landlord had issued letters in February 2023 and February 2024 with details of the new weekly rent amounts. The letters stated the resident had to pay the correct amount from the new payment date.
  9. The resident said the credit on his account was taken without his consent. The landlord had not unreasonably used the credit from the resident’s rent account. The resident was to pay his rent in advance under the terms of the tenancy agreement. It is noted that the credit on the resident’s account was used during this period. However, the resident would have been obliged to pay his increased rent figure regardless of the landlord’s error. Therefore, the landlord has not acted unreasonably by collecting the resident’s rent from his rent account as usual.
  10. The landlord’s complaint response acknowledged the frustration and inconvenience caused to the resident as a result of its error to amend the direct debit payment. It attempted to put things right for the resident and offered an apology and £200 compensation. This was in line with its compensation policy. The landlord also explained it had provided feedback to the account management team to ensure amendments were made following rent changes going forward.
  11. In summary, the landlord failed to update the direct debit amount in April 2023 and was not aware of this until the resident raised concerns about his rent account in April 2024. The resident experienced the distress and inconvenience of receiving letters about his account being in arrears in June 2024. However, the resident was also responsible for ensuring the correct rent payment was made in line with the terms of the tenancy agreement. The landlord has acknowledged the inconvenience, time and trouble caused to the resident. It offered compensation in line with its compensation policy and our own remedies guidance. This was proportionate to the inconvenience caused to the resident. The Ombudsman therefore finds that while there were service failings, the landlord has made an offer of reasonable redress.

Complaint handling

  1. The landlord has a 2 stage complaints process. At stage 1 the landlord will acknowledge the complaint within 5 working days and respond within 10 working days from the acknowledgment. At stage 2, it will acknowledge a request to escalate a complaint within 5 working days and respond within 20 working days from this acknowledgement. The landlord may extend its timescale for responding to the complaint but this will not exceed a further 20 working days at stage 2 without good reason. It will explain this to the resident and inform them of the expected timescale of the response.
  2. The resident raised his complaint on 14 June 2024. The landlord confirmed to the resident on 21 June 2024 that it had raised a complaint and issued a complaint acknowledgment letter on 2 July 2024. The landlord’s complaint response stated that it failed to acknowledge the complaint within its timescales due to an influx of complaints.
  3. The resident escalated his complaint on 8 July 2024. The landlord acknowledged this in a call and letter on 22 August 2024. This was a timeframe of 33 working days. The letter on 22 August 2024 also extended the complaint by 20 working days. We have not seen the letter. However, there is no evidence of the landlord updating the resident of this extension before this. This was not in line with its complaints policy. The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 30 August 2024. This was 39 working days after the resident had escalated his complaint. This did not meet the timescales in the landlord’s complaint policy.
  4. The landlord’s complaint response acknowledged delays at both stages, apologised and offered £100 compensation. This was in line with its compensation policy and our own remedies guidance. It also explained it had provided additional training on communication during complaint investigations. This demonstrated the landlord taking learning from the complaint. Therefore, the £100 offered by the landlord in recognition of its complaint handling failures, was reasonable redress by the landlord.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.b. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was reasonable redress in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s rent account.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 53.b. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was reasonable redress in the landlord’s complaint handling.

Orders and recommendations

Recommendation

  1. If it has not done so already, the landlord should pay the resident the £300 compensation it offered during the complaints process. The Ombudsman’s findings of reasonable redress is based on the understanding that this compensation is to be paid.