Uttlesford District Council (202407659)

Decision
Case ID	202407659
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Uttlesford District Council
Landlord type	Local Authority / ALMO or TMO
Occupancy	Secure Tenancy
Date	30 June 2026

Background

1. The resident reported an oil leak from her external heating unit to the landlord in April 2024. She said whilst waiting for it to complete the repair it provided her with electric heaters. She said she used these for 3 days due to her health conditions. The resident would like to be reimbursed for the extra cost she incurred.

What the complaint is about

2. The landlord’s response to the resident’s:
   1. Request to be reimbursed for electricity costs.
   2. Complaint.

Our decision (determination)

3. We found:
   1. Service failure in the landlord’s response to the resident’s request to be reimbursed for electricity costs.
   2. No maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s complaint.

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

Summary of reasons

The resident’s request to be reimbursed for electricity costs

4. The landlord responded to the resident’s repair in line with its policy. However, in its complaint responses it gave her different reasons for not reimbursing the electricity costs. It also did not compare her normal energy usage or seem to consider the resident’s vulnerabilities.

Complaint handling

5. The landlord complied with its complaints policy and our Complaint Handling Code (the Code).

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.

Order	What the landlord must do	Due date
1	Apology order The landlord must apologise in writing to the resident for the failures identified in this report. The landlord must ensure: the apology is provided by a manager the apology is specific to the failures identified in this decision, meaningful and empathetic it has due regard to our apologies guidance	No later than 28 July 2026
2	Compensation order The landlord must pay the resident £50 compensation to recognise the distress and incontinence caused by its response for her request for reimbursement for electricity costs. The landlord must pay the resident directly and provide documentary evidence of payment by the due date.	No later than 28 July 2026
3	Specific action order The landlord should consider if it needs to reimburse the resident for electricity costs. It should ask to compare her usual electricity usage at the time of the repair with the amounts used with the electric heaters. The landlord should explain to the resident in writing its decision on reimbursement for electricity costs. The landlord must provide the decision to the resident and documentary evidence of the decision by the due date.	No later than 28 July 2026

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
17 April 2024	The resident complained to the landlord. She said she used the electric heaters to keep warm while waiting for it to repair her oil tank. She gave a breakdown of the extra costs she incurred totalling £19.38 over 4 days. The resident asked the landlord to reimburse this amount.
29 April 2024	The landlord replied at stage 1 and did not uphold the resident’s complaint as it said it could have completed the repair a day earlier.   The resident escalated her complaint on the same day. She said it could exclude the day she was unavailable for the repair, but she would like reimbursement for the costs.
14 May 2024	The landlord replied at stage 2 and did not uphold the resident’s complaint. It said she was not using more than the average UK energy costs per day so it would not reimburse her energy costs for the period of the repair.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident said she would like the landlord to reimbursement her energy costs to resolve her complaint.

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.

Complaint	The landlord’s response to the resident’s request for reimbursement of electricity costs
Finding	Service failure

6. On 8 April 2024, the resident reported an oil leak on an external heating unit to the landlord. It attended the same day in line with its repairs policy which says it aims to assess an emergency heating repair within 4 to 24 hours. However, it was unable to complete the repair, so it switched the heating unit off and provided her with electric heaters.
7. The landlord offered the resident an appointment on 11 April 2024 to repair the heating unit. However, she declined due to a medical appointment that day. On 12 April 2024, it attended and completed the repair, 3 days after she reported the issue.
8. The resident raised her complaint and said she incurred extra costs using the electric heaters during the 3 days her heating was not working.
9. At stage 1, the landlord said it would not reimburse the costs of the electric heaters because it offered her an earlier appointment. The landlord did not explain if it responded within its repairs policy.
10. The resident escalated her complaint. She said due to her health conditions she had to keep her property warm using the electric heaters. At stage 2 the landlord did not uphold the resident’s complaint because it said the costs she incurred were not above £4.63 which is the average energy costs for a UK household.
11. The landlord compared the electricity the resident used to an average UK cost. However, it did not compare her electricity usage during the repair wait time with her normal consumption, to assess if she was paying more. It also did not explain to her if there had been a service failure or not in its response to her repair. The landlord said at the time of the complaint it did not have a compensation policy.
12. Our role is to consider whether the landlord resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. To do this we consider our dispute resolution principles, be fair, put things right and learn from outcomes.
13. The landlord attended the oil leak repair within it emergency timeframe, and it responded reasonably by providing temporary heaters until it could complete the work. However, it failed to clearly explain this in its complaint responses, and why it would not reimburse the resident’s energy costs.
14. The landlord assessed the resident’s electricity use against the average figure of a UK household, but it did not ask her to provide proof of her normal energy consumption as a comparison. This would have been reasonable in the circumstances. The landlord also failed to consider the resident’s health conditions and that she attended a hospital appointment which was the reason for changing the appointment date.
15. We have found service failure in the landlord’s response to the resident’s request for reimbursement of electricity costs. We have ordered it to apologise and pay her £50 compensation. This is in line with our compensation guidance for a minor failure by the landlord that it did not appropriately acknowledge.

Complaint	The landlord’s response to the resident’s complaint
Finding	No maladministration

16. The landlord’s complaint policy at the time of the complaint complies with the definition of a complaint in the Code (April 2024). The timescales in the landlord’s complaint procedure complied with the Code.
17. We have found no maladministration in the landlord’s response to the resident’s complaint. It acknowledged and replied to her complaint at stage 1 and 2 within its policy times.

Learning

18. The landlord should improve its complaint responses by referring to internal policies when explaining whether they are upheld. It should consider resident vulnerabilities. Our 2024 Spotlight Report on attitudes, rights and respect may help.
19. The landlord may want to refer to our compensation guidance when considering whether it will compensate residents for additional heating costs.

Knowledge information management (record keeping)

20. The landlord’s records of its communications with the resident were limited. The landlord should improve its record keeping which will enable it to monitor issues and provide a more efficient service.

Communication

21. The landlord’s communication with the resident about her request for reimbursement for extra electricity costs was poor. It should improve its communication to reduce residents’ frustration. Our 2021 Spotlight Report on complaints about heating, hot water, and energy in social housing may help.