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Curo Places Limited (202327315)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202327315

Curo Places Limited

14 January 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 resident’s complaint is about the landlord’s handling of reports of a leaking roof.
  2. The Ombudsman has also considered the associated complaint handling.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of a one-bedroomed bungalow.
  2. The resident first reported a leak from the roof on 3 January 2023. The landlord’s operatives attended the property on 6 January 2023 and made partial repairs. A surveyor attended the property on 14 March 2023. They recorded that further work was required to fix the leak and the damage it had caused to the property.
  3. No action was taken by the landlord to arrange the repairs. The resident complained on 29 March 2023.
  4. The landlord sent a stage 1 complaint response on 19 April 2023. It upheld the complaint as the repairs had yet to be completed. It apologised to the resident for his experience since reporting the leak. It said that once it had completed the repairs it would consider making a compensation payment to him. The landlord said he could ask for a review of the complaint if he remained dissatisfied.
  5. The resident escalated his complaint on 24 April 2023. When no action was taken by the landlord, the resident complained to his MP on 1 June 2023.
  6. The landlord sent a stage 2 complaint response to the resident on 4 July 2023. It offered overall compensation of £125 for poor contact, the delays in handling the repairs and responding to his complaint. The resident declined the offer on 10 July 2023. The landlord made an increased compensation offer of £350 on 19 July 2023. 
  7. The resident remained unhappy with how the landlord dealt with the repairs and the complaint. The landlord sent a further complaint response on 4 August 2023. It offered a further £10 compensation for a missed repair appointment. The resident declined the offer as it had not confirmed when the repair works would be completed.
  8. The resident escalated the matter to the Ombudsman on 4 September 2023. He also raised a further complaint with the landlord about the ongoing repairs the same day.
  9. The landlord completed partial repair work on 3 October 2023. It sent a further stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 5 October 2023. It offered a further £60 compensation for its delays, lack of communication and complaint handling. The resident declined the offer as the landlord had yet to provide timescales for completing the outstanding repairs and remedial work.
  10. Further partial repair work was completed between October 2023 and February 2024. The resident continued to correspond with the landlord during that time.
  11. The landlord sent a stage 2 complaint response to the resident on 15 February 2024. It made a revised compensation offer of £370, for the delays in replying, and the impact of completing repairs and remedial work.
  12. The remedial work was completed on 8 May 2024. The landlord offered a further £50 for the delay on 13 May 2024. The resident accepted the overall compensation offer of £905 on 15 May 2024.

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s handling of reports of a leaking roof.

  1. The resident reported a leak from the roof of the property to the landlord on 3 January 2023. The landlord’s operatives attended the property on 6 January 2023. Its records show the roof and walls were temporarily sealed and further repair work was required.
  2. The landlord’s repairs policy classifies rainwater leaking from a roof as a Priority 2 repair, which could affect the wellbeing of a resident and cause further problems if left unattended. It states it will attend these types of repairs before the end of the next working day after a report is made. By attending three days after the report, the landlord failed to adhere to its policy timeframes.
  3. In respect to an ongoing leak at the property, the landlord’s policy states it has a responsibility to repair where there was a health and safety risk to the customer. It is reasonable to assume an ongoing leak would meet the criteria for a health and safety risk and that it would cause damage to the property if not fixed.
  4. Following the temporary repair, it is reasonable to assume the outstanding repairs to the roof would require specialist contractors and which was likely to affect the timescales in completing a repair. The landlord’s repairs policy refers to completing routine repair work within 28 days, depending on the complexity of the works. The landlord did not record whether the further repairs would require specialist contractors. It also did not keep the resident updated on how long the repairs would take to be completed. The landlord’s failure to adhere to its repairs policy was unreasonable, as was its lack of communication with the resident.
  5. No further action was taken by the landlord until 14 March 2023, when a surveyor attended the property. The surveyor reported that the leak had caused damage to the lounge ceiling and loft. The landlord did not record if it was arranging the required repairs, nor did it inform the resident how long it would take to complete the outstanding work. The landlord’s further poor communication with the resident was unreasonable given its original temporary fix was completed 2 months prior and the landlord had already exceeded its target response time as set out in its policy.
  6. The resident complained to the landlord about the lack of action to complete the repair on 29 March 2023. The landlord acknowledged the complaint on 3 April 2023 and said it would reply within 10 working days.
  7. The landlord sent a response at stage 1 of its complaint process to the resident on 19 April 2023. It apologised for the experience the resident had endured since reporting the leak, and the delay to repair the roof. It said further repair work was scheduled for 24 April 2023. It said that once it had completed the repairs it would consider making a compensation payment to him for the time it had taken to do so. The landlord said he could escalate his complaint if he was dissatisfied.
  8. The landlord’s response recognised its delays in repairing the roof, and arranged for works to be carried out shortly after. However, the landlord did not offer any redress for its failure to follow its own repairs policy up to that point. The failure to offer compensation and put things right for its self-identified failures was unreasonable and not in keeping with the purpose of the landlord’s complaint’s process.
  9. The resident complained to the landlord on 24 April 2023. He said contractors attended the property that day, but the roof had not been fully repaired. He also said the leak caused internal damage to the property. The landlord replied the same day. It said the contractor had resealed the lead around the chimney, and they had recommended the chimney be removed before internal inspections and further repairs could be completed. As the resident remained unhappy the landlord sent a stage 2 complaint acknowledgement to him on 27 April 2023 and said it would reply within 20 working days.
  10. The landlord emailed the resident on 10 May 2023. It said a surveyor would attend the property the following day to decide if the chimney needed to be removed. The surveyor did not attend on 11 May 2023. The landlord did not contact the resident to tell them the surveyor could not attend, nor did it arrange another appointment. The landlord’s lack of communication with the resident was unreasonable and was a failure to provide the service it had committed to. It was likely to have caused avoidable distress and inconvenience to the resident who had by this point, been waiting around 4 months for the situation to be resolved.
  11. The resident complained to his MP and the Ombudsman on 1 June 2023 about the landlord’s failure to complete repairs to the roof.
  12. A surveyor attended the property on 5 June 2023. They reported that the loft area was dry, but work was needed to fix internal areas in the loft damaged by the leak previously.
  13. The resident’s MP forwarded his complaint to the landlord on 7 June 2023. The MP included a list of questions the resident had asked about the action the landlord had taken since he reported the leak.
  14. The landlord sent a further stage 2 acknowledgement letter to the resident on 16 June 2023. It said it aimed to respond to his complaint by 7 July 2023.
  15. The resident emailed the landlord on 19 and 21 June 2023. He said it had not fully repaired the roof, and the damage caused by the leak was not fixed. The landlord emailed the resident on 27 June 2023 and said a surveyor would attend to check what work was needed on 4 July 2023. The surveyor attended as planned. They told the landlord that the leak had been repaired, but further roof repairs were required as the lead lining was uneven, and it caused water to pool. 
  16. On 4 July 2023 the landlord sent a stage 2 complaint response to the resident. It apologised and offered £75 compensation for the lack of contact and delays in completing repairs since 14 March 2023 (the date when a surveyor attended). It gave details of the repairs completed to that point. It added that it would fix the lead lining on the roof and paint the water stains on the lounge ceiling later that month.
  17. The landlord said that when the repairs were completed it would consider the impact of the delays and make a further compensation offer. It said he could contact this Service if he remained dissatisfied. The landlord did not answer the list of questions sent on the resident’s behalf by his MP.
  18. In its stage 2 response the landlord offered compensation for the lack of action taken from 14 March 2023. However, the landlord’s decision making and offer did not take into account that it took over 2 months from the leak being reported for a surveyor to attend the property to identify the works needed. The failure to acknowledge or compensate for the full delay was unreasonable. 
  19. The landlord recorded on 4 July 2023 that it had attended the property that day. It said the leak had been repaired, but the lead lining on the roof still needed to be fixed.
  20. The resident emailed the landlord on 10 July 2023. He said he was unhappy he had to keep contacting it to prompt repair action. He said it had failed to respond to the questions sent by his MP. He asked it to confirm when it would paint the water stains caused by the leak and repair the damage to the loft.
  21. The landlord replied on 13 July 2023 and offered several dates to attend to do the repairs. It reiterated that it would consider further compensation when the repairs were complete. It apologised it had not replied to the MP’s questions.
  22. The landlord emailed the resident on 19 July 2023. It asked if he accepted the resolution offer. The resident replied to the same day and said he was still waiting for a date for when the outstanding work would be completed. He again said that it had not replied to the MP questions. The landlord replied the same day. It provided responses to the questions sent by the MP about the action taken since the leak was reported.
  23. The landlord offered a further £350 compensation offer for the time and impact of the delays in completing the repairs.
  24. The resident emailed the landlord on 20 July 2023. He said he was still unhappy with how it had dealt with matters since he reported the leak in January 2023. The landlord replied the following day. It said that once the repair work was completed it would consider how much compensation it would offer for the delays he experienced.
  25. The landlord emailed the resident on 4 August 2023. It apologised for the delays in dealing with his complaints. It added some details to its previous responses to the MP questions. The landlord offered a further £10 compensation to acknowledge the missed appointment of 11 May 2023. That amount was in line with its compensation policy for missed appointments. The resident emailed the landlord on 14 August 2023. He said he did not accept the compensation offered so far. He asked when the roof and redecoration works would be completed. The landlord replied the same day. It said it was waiting for confirmation of when the roof repairs would be completed. It added that redecoration work would be done on 23 August 2023. It said he could contact this Service if he remained dissatisfied. 
  26. On 16 August 2023 a roofing contractor attended the resident’s property. The landlord had not notified the resident of this appointment. The landlord’s records do not say if any repairs were completed.
  27. The resident complained to the landlord and the Ombudsman about the outstanding repairs on 4 September 2023. He said the contractor who attended the previous month told him further work was still needed to repair the roof, but he had been given no update since. The landlord’s continued poor communication regarding the appointment was unreasonable in light of the similar issues that had occurred previously in the complaint timeline, as was its failure to contact the resident about the outstanding repairs afterward.
  28. The landlord arranged roof repair works to be carried out on 2 October 2023. The contractor did not attend until the following day. Repair works were completed on 3 October 2023, but the landlord recorded that further work was needed.
  29. The landlord sent a stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 5 October 2023. It apologised for his experience to date and upheld his complaint. It said it would contact him with dates for when the outstanding works would be completed. It offered £40 compensation, which was comprised of:
    1. £10 for the contractor attending the property unannounced on 16 August 2023
    2. £10 for the roofing works not being carried out on 2 October 2023
    3. £20 for the lack of communication regarding when roof repairs would be completed
  30. The landlord said the resident could escalate his complaint if he remained dissatisfied.
  31. The landlord’s complaint response recognised failings and offered compensation for its failures. However, the landlord’s redress offer did not adequately reflect the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by its delay to complete repairs since its last complaint response from July 2023. The failure to acknowledge or compensate for this additional delay was unreasonable and indicative of the poor standard of service consistently experienced by the resident throughout the complaint timeline.
  32. Repair work was completed by the landlord’s contractors on 6 October 2023 however, the landlord recorded that further roof repairs were still required following that. 
  33. The resident replied to the landlord on 18 October 2023. He said he did not accept the compensation offer. The resident also sent several emails to the landlord throughout October 2023. He asked for updates on when the repairs would be completed. The landlord told the resident on 23 and 24 October 2023 that it needed to fix the loft insulation, as well as stain blocking and painting in damaged areas. It did not say when it would complete that work.
  34. The landlord emailed the resident on 4 December 2023 and confirmed that the roof had been fully repaired. However, a surveyor attended on 7 December 2023 and told the landlord that there was still evidence of a leak from the roof. On the same day the landlord told the resident it would complete redecoration work on 26 January 2024. The landlord informed the resident on 14 December 2023 that the surveyor had reported there was still a leak in the roof. It did not say when it would complete repair the leak.
  35. The landlord cancelled the redecoration work on 25 January 2024 due to the report of the leak in the roof. The resident complained to the landlord the same day about the delays in completing the repairs.
  36. The roof was checked by another surveyor on 26 January 2024. They said there was no leak, but the lead flashing on the roof needed to be fixed.
  37. The landlord emailed the resident on 26 January 2024. I said it would reply to his complaint within 20 working days. 
  38. The landlord’s records show that it completed the redecoration works in the property on 5 February 2024. The resident emailed the landlord on 8 February 2024. He said there was still water stains in the lounge. The following day the landlord recorded that a surveyor and roofing contractor had attended. It recorded that the chimney brickwork was porous which it suspected caused the water stains. It said the repair work would be prioritised.
  39. The landlord sent a stage 2 response to the resident on 15 February 2024. It apologised that its efforts to complete the rectification works did not meet the expected standards. It said that all internal redecoration works had to wait for confirmation there were no leaks from the roof. It added that delays were caused by a surveyor reporting water ingress during an inspection on 7 December 2023, but that was later proven not to be the case by another surveyor.
  40. The landlord apologised for the delays, inadequate communication, poor planning and the inconveniences the resident had experienced. It increased its compensation offer made on 5 October to £320 due to the impact and inconvenience caused by delays to the repair works.
  41. The landlord said the repair work to the chimney would be prioritised. It added that it would keep the complaint open until the works were completed. It said he could contact this Service if he remained dissatisfied.
  42. The outstanding repairs and redecoration were carried out between 11 March and 7 May 2024. The resident emailed the landlord on 9 May 2024. He confirmed the work had been completed. He requested that it send a final response to his complaint.
  43. The landlord emailed the resident on 13 May 2024. It offered a further £50 compensation for the inconveniences caused by delays in completing the internal redecoration works. It said he could contact this Service if he remained dissatisfied. The resident accepted the overall compensation offer of £805 on 15 May 2024.
  44. In summary, the landlord initially completed a temporary repair to the roof. The evidence shows that in its attempts to provide a permanent repair, there was a pattern of poor communication, missed appointments, repeat visits and a confused diagnose as to the cause of the issue and extent of repairs required. The landlord’s initial response was ineffective to the extent that the resident complained about the landlord’s handling on two occasions, both of which completed its internal complaints process. The landlord’s compensation offer was accepted by the resident on 15 May 2024, around 15 months after the matter was first raised.
  45. When a failure is identified, as in this case, the Ombudsman’s role is to consider whether the redress offered by the landlord put things right and resolved the resident’s complaint satisfactorily in the circumstances. In considering this, the Ombudsman takes into account whether the landlord’s offer of redress was in line with the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles: Be Fair, Put Things Right, and Learn from Outcomes, as well as our own guidance on remedies.
  46. The landlord’s stage 1 complaint response apologised for delays. It did not offer any redress for the delay as the landlord said it was waiting for the repairs to be completed first. The landlord’s stage 2 response offered £75, but it did not recognise the full period of delays since the leak was first reported. After further correspondence with the resident, 2 weeks later the landlord offered an additional £350 compensation payment for the delays. £10 compensation was also offered for a missed repairs appointment.
  47. At this point in the process, the £435 compensation offer would have been in line with an award which the Ombudsman would make in these circumstances, and when considering the Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies. However, such an award would also be contingent on the landlord taking action to undertake the required works and complete them within a reasonable timeframe.
  48. The landlord did not complete the repairs following its compensation offer. The resident continued to complain to it about the lack of action. The resident raised a new complaint, but it took until May 2024 for the landlord to complete the repair and redecoration works. That was far outside of its repairs policy timescales and was unreasonable. The landlord offered further compensation of £370 for the repair delays from September 2023 to May 2024.
  49. The landlord’s final offer of compensation was £805. The Ombudsman encourages landlords to take resolution focussed action, irrespective of the stage at which a case is at. However, the main focus for a landlord should always be to ensure that a case in dispute progresses to a fair resolution during its internal complaints process.
  50. It was not until the resident referred his complaint to this Service and it opened a second complaint process about the same issue that the landlord progressively increased its offer of compensation and took steps to conduct the necessary works to resolve the situation for the resident. The Dispute Resolution Principles set out that appropriate redress is something which should have been considered as part of the internal complaints procedure. The landlord’s approach inappropriately deferred compensation for its failures and consistently delayed its actions to resolve the issue for the resident.
  51. The Ombudsman’s outcomes guidance is clear that a finding of reasonable redress is less likely to be determined under such circumstances. This is particularly the case where the landlord has not demonstrated specific learning points to ensure that similar failings do not occur in the future.
  52. While the final compensation offered by the landlord is equivalent to an amount that would be ordered by this Service in the circumstances, the landlord’s failure to put things right within its complaints process leads to a finding of maladministration. The landlord is ordered to confirm payment of £805 has been made to the resident and to apologise to him for its failings.

Complaint handling

  1. The landlord operates a 2 stage complaints procedure. Its complaints policy states it should acknowledge complaints within 3 working days. It aims to respond to complaints within 10 working days at stage 1. At stage 2, it aims to respond within 20 working days.
  2. The resident first made a complaint to the landlord on 29 March 2023. The landlord sent a stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 19 April 2023. That was slightly outside of its policy timescale of 10 working days.
  3. Paragraph 5.5 of the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code 2022 (the Code) states a complaint response must be provided to the resident when the answer to the complaint is known, not when the outstanding actions required to address the issue are completed. Outstanding actions must still be tracked and actioned promptly with appropriate updates provided to the resident.
  4. The landlord’s stage 1 complaint response admitted failures. However, it did not fully address the complaint up to that time. The failure to do so and send a stage 1 complaint response that did not comply with the Code, was inappropriate, as it prolonged the complaints process for the resident unnecessarily. 
  5. The resident complained to the landlord on 24 April 2023. The landlord acknowledged that on 27 April 2023 and said it would send a stage 2 response within 20 working days. The resident complained to his MP on 1 June 2023.
  6. The landlord sent a further stage 2 acknowledgement letter to the resident on 16 June 2023. It apologised and offered £50 compensation for the delay in replying. It said it aimed to respond to his complaint by 7 July 2023. It sent a stage 2 complaint response on 4 July 2023. It apologised again for the delay and reiterated its £50 compensation offer. The offer was in accordance with its compensation policy.
  7. The Code sets out that as part of its stage 2 response landlords must confirm in writing to the resident in clear, plain language the details of the complaint that has been addressed the decision on the complaint, the reasons for any decisions made, the details of any remedy offered to put things right and the details of any outstanding actions. The response should inform the resident how to escalate the matter to the Housing Ombudsman Service if they remain dissatisfied.
  8. The resident continued to correspond with the landlord about his complaint from July to September 2023. The resident remained unhappy and escalated his complaint to the Ombudsman on 4 September 2023
  9. Following the resident’s escalation to the Ombudsman, he made a further complaint with the landlord about the ongoing repairs on 4 September 2023.
  10. It is unclear, why having issued its stage 2 response and the matter having been escalated to the Ombudsman, the landlord began another complaint process about the same substantive issue.
  11. The landlord acknowledged it had delayed in replying to the resident’s second complaint until 5 October 2023. It offered £20 compensation for the delay in replying. That was in accordance with its compensation policy.
  12. The resident complained to the landlord again on 25 January 2024. The landlord sent a second stage 2 response on 15 February 2024. The landlord increased its compensation offer for the delay in replying to his complaint to £50. That was in accordance with its compensation policy.
  13. In summary, the landlord made 2 separate compensation offers totalling £100 for its delays in responding to different stage 2 complaints. The evidence shows the landlord failed to act in accordance with the Code at various stages and the compensation awarded for the landlord’s complaint handling failures do not appropriately reflect the inconvenience, time, trouble and distress caused to the resident in what was prolonged and confused complaint handling response by the landlord. These failures combined with the inability to put things right for the resident, leads to a determination of maladministration in the landlord’s complaint handling. An order for increased compensation has been made below.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration in the landlord’s handling of reports of a leaking roof.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was maladministration by the landlord in its complaint handling.

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report, the landlord is ordered to:
    1. Provide the resident with a written apology for the failings identified in this report.
    2. Provide confirmation of payment of £805 to the resident, which the landlord offered in recognition of its handling of the reports of a leaking roof.
    3. Pay £200 compensation to the resident for its complaint handing failures. The landlord can deduct from this the total any amount it has already paid to the resident for its complaint handling failure. The balance of payment due should be made directly to the resident and not offset against a rent or service charge account.
  2. The landlord should provide evidence of compliance for the above orders and its response to the orders above to this service within 4 weeks.