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Clarion Housing Association Limited (202125147)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202125147

Clarion Housing Association Limited

10 June 2023

 

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:
    1. Handling of repairs to the resident’s balcony door.
    2. Complaint handling.

Background

  1. The resident submitted a formal complaint about issues with his balcony door to the landlord in February 2022. This Service has not seen a copy of the complaint. The landlord acknowledged the complaint on 18 February 2022. It responded on 21 February 2022, that it could not look into the issue as a complaint, because the last time an operative attended to the resident’s balcony door was on 19 February 2020, more than six months ago. It however confirmed that it would arrange an appointment with the resident for an operative to reattend.
  2. The landlord’s records indicate that a repair was raised for the balcony door following the landlord visit to the property. The job was marked as completed by the landlord, although there is no information of the specific works carried out. The resident chased repairs on 6 April 2022, advising that his door was letting in draughts and he disputed that any repairs were carried out on the landlord’s last visit. He requested a new door to be fitted. The landlord stated that an inspection would be arranged by an area surveyor. Its records indicate that an operative visited the property on 9 June 2022 and determined that the door handle had already been replaced.
  3. This Service, following correspondence with the resident throughout the months of May, June and August 2022, contacted the landlord on 1 September 2022 requesting a response to the resident’s complaint. The landlord replied on the same day, stating that the complaint was logged as a first-stage complaint as it had been unable to locate further complaints since 2020 regarding the resident’s balcony doors. The landlord also informed that, due to a cybersecurity incident, it had limited access to its systems and its response timescales might be affected.
  4. The landlord provided a complaint response on 28 September 2022. It apologised for the delays in responding and explained the issues it was experiencing with its IT systems. The landlord acknowledged that the resident wanted the balcony doors to be replaced. It advised that an inspection was carried out on 23 September 2022, where it was agreed that the balcony doors would be replaced. The landlord stated it was awaiting a quote to be agreed for works to go ahead. It advised the resident that he would be contacted to arrange a suitable appointment. The landlord upheld the complaint and offered £100 compensation. This sum was comprised of £50 for its complaint handling delays and £50 for the delays in completing the repairs.
  5. This Service does not have access to a copy of the complaint escalation by the resident. However, the landlord issued its final complaint response (peer review) on 11 November 2022. The landlord acknowledged the resident was dissatisfied with the amount of compensation awarded and the lack of communication since its stage one response. The resident requested compensation to reflect the impact of the delays on his health and for the balcony doors to be replaced in a timely manner. The landlord did not uphold the complaint and explained that the delays experienced were due to the resident cancelling appointments.
  6. The resident brought his complaint to this Service in December 2022, as the balcony doors had not yet been replaced and cold air was getting into the property. The resident is unhappy with the level of compensation and expressed that he wanted to make a claim against the landlord’s insurance. The resident also requested that the balcony door be replaced.

Assessment and findings

Scope of Investigation

  1. This Service has noted that the resident submitted a complaint in May 2022 to his landlord about the damage to his carpet following a leak from the boiler. Those matters will not be considered for this investigation as it has not exhausted the landlord’s complaints procedure. This report will therefore focus on the events related to the landlord’s handling of repairs to the balcony doors.
  2. The resident suffers from Sickle cell anaemia and has advised that the delays in replacing his balcony doors has exacerbated his medical condition. Whilst this Service is an alternative to the courts, it is unable to establish legal liability or whether a landlord’s actions or lack of action have had a detrimental effect on a resident’s health. Nor can it calculate or award damages. The Ombudsman is therefore unable to consider the personal injury aspects of the resident’s complaint. These matters are better suited to consideration by a court or via a personal injury claim.

Handling of repairs to the resident’s balcony door.

  1. The landlord is responsible to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the property, including the balcony doors. The landlord’s repairs policy states that non-emergency appointments are scheduled at the initial point of contact and at the residents’ convenience. It will offer an appointment within twenty-eight calendar days of the repair being reported.
  2. The resident first reported issues with the balcony doors in May 2022. Following various inspections and repairs, the landlord acknowledged that the resident’s balcony doors needed to be replaced on 28 September 2022. By the end of the landlord’s final complaint response in November 2022, the balcony door was not replaced. This is not appropriate considering that the resident was reporting that he was experiencing draughts through the balcony door and this was affecting his medical condition.
  3.  The landlord has explained that this was partly caused by the resident’s last-minute cancellation of appointments and its subsequent change of contractors, which meant they had to start the whole process from the beginning. From what can be seen, there is no evidence that the landlord monitored the progress of the replacement of the balcony door which exceeded its repair standard. Furthermore, the resident experienced delays of more than seven months since the landlord confirmed that the balcony door required repair in May 2022. The delay is considered unreasonable.
  4. Under the terms of the tenancy agreement, the resident is required to provide reasonable access to the landlord to carry out repairs. The landlord’s final complaint response acknowledges this and that, if necessary, it may need to consider tenancy action to get the repairs resolved.
  5. The landlord’s final complaint response says that it has not identified any failures with its communication with the resident regarding the works to the balcony. However, from what can be seen, there is no evidence of clear communication with the resident about his concerns about the replacement of the balcony door. This was not reasonable as the resident stated that it could not close or lock the balcony door and there are children living in the property. Neither is there evidence of communication with him regarding the change of contractor.
  6. The landlord has offered £50 compensation to the resident for the delays experienced in replacing the balcony doors. The compensation award does not address the delays in identifying and replacing the balcony door, which caused the resident distress and inconvenience. Taking into account the resident’s circumstances, the time and trouble incurred by the resident in chasing the complaint, and the inconvenience caused, the landlord’s offer of compensation is not sufficient redress.
  7. The landlord’s compensation policy says an offer of compensation of £50 is considered for instances where a minor service failure results in some impact on the resident. In this case, the resident has experienced an unreasonable delay in getting his balcony door replaced and it is the opinion of this Service that an award of £250 would be appropriate redress.

Complaint handling

  1. The landlord’s complaint process comprises of a two-stage procedure. An initial complaint should be answered within ten working days. If the resident remains dissatisfied, upon escalation, it will provide its final complaint response within ten working days.
  2. There is evidence that the resident submitted a complaint to the landlord’s website in February 2022 regarding the state of his balcony doors. The landlord did not acknowledge the complaint, as it explained that the last time the landlord attended works to the resident’s balcony doors was in 2020. The period was longer than six months ago. It is reasonable for the landlord to consider whether the resident concerns related to a historical event. In this particular case, there is no evidence that the resident attempted to contact the landlord before submitting the formal complaint.
  3. There is no evidence that the resident raised another complaint related to the state of the balcony doors before September 2022, when this Service wrote to the landlord requesting a response to the resident’s dissatisfaction with the handling of repairs to the balcony doors.
  4. The landlord issued a stage one response on 28 September 2022, 18 working days after the complaint was raised. This constitutes a minor delay from its complaint standard of responding within 10 working days. In its complaint review, the landlord has offered £50 compensation to the resident and apologised for this. This Service believes the landlord’s actions constitute reasonable redress.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of repairs to the balcony doors in the resident’s property.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 53(b) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves its complaint handling failure.

Orders

  1. The landlord to write to the resident to apologise for the service failures identified in this report.
  2. The landlord is to pay the resident £250 compensation to the resident for the impact and the delays in replacing the balcony doors has had on the resident. This sum includes the £50 already offered to the resident.
  3. If the resident’s balcony doors have not been replaced, the landlord is to arrange an inspection of the resident’s balcony doors. In addition, it will provide this Service with an update of its findings setting out when the balcony doors will be replaced or the action it proposes to take to achieve this.
  4. The landlord should confirm compliance with these orders to this Service within four weeks of the date of this report.

Recommendations

  1. If it has not already done so, the landlord is to pay the resident the £50 compensation awarded for its complaint handling failures.
  2. It is recommended that the landlord reviews its record-keeping practices in accordance with the Spotlight report on Information and knowledge management: on the record.