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Southern Housing Group Limited (202104632)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202104632

Southern Housing Group Limited

6 July 2021


Our approach

What we can and cannot consider is called the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and is governed by the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. The Ombudsman must determine whether a complaint comes within their jurisdiction. The Ombudsman seeks to resolve disputes wherever possible but cannot investigate complaints that fall outside of this. 

In deciding whether a complaint falls within their jurisdiction, the Ombudsman will carefully consider all the evidence provided by the parties and the circumstances of the case.

The complaint

  1. The complaint is about the landlords response to the resident’s concerns regarding a data breach.

Determination (jurisdictional decision)

  1. When a complaint is brought to the Ombudsman, we must consider all the circumstances of the case as there are sometimes reasons why a complaint will not be investigated.
  2. After carefully considering all the evidence, I have determined that the complaint, as set out above, is not within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

Summary of events

  1. On 24 May 2021, the resident emailed this service a chain of emails between him and his landlord concerning a data breach issue. The resident’s original complaint was not contained within the email chain provided.
  2. Within this email chain, the landlord confirmed receipt of the resident’s original complaint about breaching privacy on 6 April 2021. It explained it had initially responded to the resident’s complaint on 8 April in which it had signposted the resident to the ICO.
  3. The resident requested escalation of the complaint on 12 April on the grounds that he believed compensation should be paid. The landlord issued its final response on 27 April. It explained that some email addresses had incorrectly been shared with a small number of data subjects and believed no harm had been caused by this. It did not agree compensation was warranted in the circumstances and referred the resident to this service.

Reasons

  1. Paragraph 39 (m) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme sets out that: The Ombudsman will not investigate complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion fall properly within the jurisdiction of another Ombudsman, regulator or complaint-handling body.
  2. The resident has requested compensation for what he believes to be a data protection breach. Our service is unable to make findings concerning data breaches and as such could not make any recommendations or orders for compensation to be paid. The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) considers complaints about data handling, compliance with the Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulation. I am therefore satisfied that this complaint is not within the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman to consider further.
  3. The resident should contact the ICO for further assistance. Please see below for contact details :

       https://ico.org.uk/