The Riverside Group Limited (202446712)

Background

1. The resident reported a leak in December 2024 which caused sewage to flood her kitchen and other areas of the ground floor of the property. She then raised a complaint as this was the second sewage leak within a year and she wanted the damaged flooring replaced. The landlord’s final complaint response included compensation for a late environmental clean but the resident is still unhappy with the level of compensation offered.

What the complaint is about

2. The complaint is about the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of sewage leaks.

Our decision (determination)

3. There was maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s reports of sewage leaks.

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

Reasons

4. The landlord’s repairs policy says that it is responsible for maintaining gutters, drains, and external pipes. This includes flushing systems and waste pipes. It confirms that sewage overflowing into a resident’s home will be classed as an emergency and it will attend within 12 hours.
5. The resident reported sewage overflowing from a pipe in her kitchen on 10 February 2024. The landlord attended within its policy’s repair timescale and stopped the leak. It arranged follow-up appointments on 22 and 26 February 2024 to inspect the flooring, but the resident was unavailable. The landlord did not schedule any further appointments.
6. We have seen no evidence that the landlord assessed the risks coming from the sewage flood. It did not arrange a professional clean or take steps to ensure the property was still fit to live in. Given the nature of the incident, this was inappropriate. The landlord failed to acknowledge this service failure or offer a proportionate remedy in its complaint responses.
7. The resident reported a second leak on 5 December 2024 and raised a complaint the next day. She said she was unhappy that a second leak had occurred within a year and that it had damaged her flooring and kitchen. She asked the landlord to replace both.
8. In response to the second leak, the landlord attended within it policy’s repair timescale again and stopped the leak. It returned on 17 December 2024 to complete a permanent repair. Due to the nature of the leak, it identified the need for an environmental clean and arranged for this to take place, although the exact date of this is unclear.
9. In its stage 1 complaint response, the landlord agreed to replace the kitchen, hallway, and WC flooring, as well as the kitchen units. It confirmed these works had been completed in its stage 2 response. The landlord also offered £180 to cover food lost due to the leak and takeaway costs from when the kitchen was inaccessible during the environmental clean.
10. It was positive that the landlord tried to put things right through its complaints process and put the resident back to the position she would have been in had the leak not happened. As part of the stage 1 complaint, it also acknowledged there had been a small delay in the environmental clean taking place and offered £75 compensation for the distress and inconvenience this caused.
11. Following the stage 1 complaint response issued on 19 December 2024, the resident reported additional damage caused by the leak. She provided a list of damaged belongings and requested compensation. The landlord advised that, as the claim appeared to be more than £2,000, it would need to be considered through its insurance process. This was in line with the landlord’s compensation policy.
12. It is unclear what steps the landlord took to progress the claim. An internal email dated 4 February 2025 said that it would “close off” the resident’s claim because it had not received receipts. This was inappropriate because the landlord’s compensation policy said its insurer had to deal with claims of this value. The landlord should not have made a decision on behalf of its insurer. Instead, it should have allowed the claim to proceed and for the insurer to determine the outcome. We have ordered the landlord to provide its insurance details to the resident so she can pursue a claim if she wishes.
13. The resident escalated her complaint to stage 2 on 6 February 2025 after the landlord refused to refund the items she had claimed for. In its stage 2 response it upheld the complaint due to the repeated sewage backing up into the property. It attempted to reassure the resident by saying the issue was now resolved. However, it did not explain the cause of the problem or the repairs completed. The resident has told us she has ongoing concerns that the issue could return. We have ordered the landlord to discuss the repairs with the resident and further reassure her that it has fully resolved the problem.
14. The stage 2 complaint response said that the compensation offered at stage 1 was appropriate and would not be increased. However, the landlord’s compensation policy allows awards of over £250 where service failures have caused significant distress.
15. Given the nature of the repairs, the landlord’s failure to act appropriately following the February 2024 leak, and the additional distress caused by the delayed environmental clean in December 2024, a higher award was justified. The resident reported a high level of distress, which was consistent with the circumstances as sewage had entered her home.
16. We have therefore ordered the landlord to pay the resident an additional £175. This is in line with the landlord’s compensation policy and our compensation guidance for service failures that have had a negative impact on the resident.

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.