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London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q) (202321387)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202321387

London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q)

22 April 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 complaint is about the landlord’s handling of:
    1. The resident’s concerns about a missed appointment by the landlord’s contractor.
    2. The associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord.
  2. On 17 July 2023, the resident contacted the landlord and submitted a complaint. She stated the landlord’s heating contractor gave her an appointment for 15 July 2023, but the contractor did not attend. The resident stated she cancelled her shift at work to be available and had used her annual leave to accommodate repair appointments.
  3. The landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 28 July 2023. It apologised for the delays and difficulties the resident had experienced with its repairs and maintenance service. It confirmed that the work to install the new boiler, including the boxing in and new pipework, had been completed. The landlord also stated that its contractor would send the resident a £30 gift voucher for the missed appointment. It also explained that it would work closely with its contractors to improve on the service failures that the resident raised in her complaint.
  4. On 28 July 2023, the resident contacted the landlord and expressed dissatisfaction with the landlord’s stage 1 response for her complaint to be escalated to the next stage of the landlord’s complaints process. The resident stated the £30 was an insult, as she cancelled work for the appointment. She also stated that the landlord spelt her name incorrectly, and she still had a leak in her property that had not been fixed for nearly 3 years.
  5. On 16 November 2023, the Ombudsman contacted the landlord requesting an update on the resident’s stage 2 complaint response and asked it to provide its stage 2 response by 22 November 2023.
  6. The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response to the resident on 21 November 2023. It acknowledged the resident’s frustration with taking time off from work to accommodate appointments for repairs to be carried out. The landlord also explained that the contractor had previously contacted her and explained the issue with the appointment. It stated the ongoing leak issue had already been addressed in a separate previous stage 2 complaint response. The landlord explained while it does not compensate for the loss of earnings, it would offer a further £50 as a gesture of goodwill. The landlord also offered the resident £130 compensation for poor complaint handling.
  7. The resident remained dissatisfied with the landlord’s response and submitted her complaint to the Ombudsman. She stated her desired outcome was for the landlord to compensate her for her loss of earnings due to the missed appointment.
  8. The Ombudsman determined a separate complaint for the resident in December 2024. As part of the complaint, we investigated multiple issues including repairs to a boiler, an ongoing leak, and other previous missed appointments.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. This report will consider the landlord’s handling of the resident’s concerns about the missed appointment in July 2023 for the boiler by the landlord’s contractor. The landlord previously investigated an issue about boiler repairs, including other previous missed appointments and an issue with an ongoing leak under a separate complaint. The Ombudsman also investigated these issues in December 2024. Under paragraph 42.l. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the Ombudsman may not consider complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, seek to raise again matters which the Housing Ombudsman, or any other Ombudsman, has already decided upon. Therefore, the repairs to the boiler and ongoing leak and related previous missed appointments are outside the scope of this assessment.

Policies and Procedures

  1. The landlord’s compensation policy states if it fails to carry out an appointment and does not provide at least 24 hours’ notice, it will award a resident £20 for the missed appointment. The policy states for small amounts awarded for missed appointments, it would usually issue a gift voucher.
  2. In addition, the landlord’s compensation policy also states the landlord would not usually pay compensation for the loss of earnings. However, it states it may consider discretionary compensation for a resident’s time and effort in getting issues resolved.

The resident’s concerns about a missed appointment by the landlord’s contractor.

  1. In July 2023, the resident submitted a complaint to the landlord explaining that the landlord’s contractor did not attend an appointment booked for 15 July 2023. The appointment was to complete installation works for a new boiler.
  2. The Ombudsman recognises the landlord’s contractor missing the booked appointment was unreasonable and would have contributed to the delay in the boiler installation at the resident’s property. In addition, there was no prior notice given to the resident regarding the missed appointment, which would have resulted in the resident waiting for the contractors who didn’t turn up to the appointment. It is acknowledged this would have added further inconvenience to the resident.
  3. The landlord responded appropriately to the resident’s concern about the missed appointment. It apologised for the distress and inconvenience caused by the missed appointment and confirmed its contractor would send the resident a £30 gift voucher to recognise the missed appointment. The offer of the gift voucher was reasonable and slightly higher than the £20 compensation referenced in the landlord’s compensation policy. The landlord stated it would work closely with its contractors to improve on the service failures identified. This was an appropriate step to help prevent further missed appointments in the future.
  4. The resident contacted the landlord in July 2023 and stated she had cancelled her shift at work for the appointment and was unhappy with the amount of compensation offered for the missed appointment.
  5. In response to the resident’s concerns about the amount of compensation offered, the landlord explained in its stage 2 complaint response that it did not compensate for the loss of earnings. However, it offered the resident a further £50 compensation, which was in addition to the gift voucher. It also stated that the contractor had previously contacted her to explain the issue with the booked appointment. The landlord also confirmed the boiler installation had been completed. The landlord’s response was reasonable, and it acted appropriately by installing the boiler shortly after the missed appointment.
  6. The amount of compensation awarded is in line with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance (published on our website), which sets out the Ombudsman’s approach to compensation. The remedies guidance suggests awards of £50 to £100, where there was a minor failure by the landlord in the service it provided, and it did not appropriately acknowledge these and/or fully put them right.
  7. The resident has stated, she was seeking compensation for loss of earnings. However, the Ombudsman will not propose a remedy of compensation to reimburse the resident for this missed appointment. The resident’s tenancy agreement requires her to give access for repairs to be carried out as needed, and it would not be fair or reasonable for the Ombudsman to order the landlord to pay the resident reimbursement for loss of earnings for routine appointments. However, the Ombudsman has considered time, trouble and inconvenience caused where repairs are missed, and whether the landlord has offered a reasonable amount of compensation to recognise the inconvenience caused.
  8. After the landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response to the resident, the resident emailed the landlord and stated there were an additional 2 missed appointments from the landlord’s contractor. We recognise the concerns about the other missed appointments were raised after the landlord’s complaints process had been exhausted. However, it is recommended that the landlord checks if the contractor missed a further 2 appointments and, if appropriate, award compensation for this in line with its compensation policy.
  9. Overall, the landlord provided a reasonable response to the resident’s concerns about the missed appointment. In addition, the compensation offer of £80 proportionately reflects the impact of the delay and inconvenience on the resident, and it amounts to reasonable redress in this case for the landlord’s handling of the resident’s concerns about a missed appointment by the landlord’s contractor.

The associated complaint

  1. The Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code) sets out the Ombudsman’s expectations for landlords’ complaint handling practices. The Code states that a stage 1 response should be provided within 10 working days of the complaint. It also explains that a stage 2 response should be provided within 20 working days from the request to escalate the complaint. The landlord’s complaints policy includes the same timescales referenced in the Code.
  2. On 17 July 2023, the resident submitted her initial complaint to the landlord. Following this, the landlord provided its stage 1 complaint response to the resident on 28 July 2023. The response was on time and compliant with the timescales referenced in the Code and the landlord’s complaints policy.
  3. On 28 July 2023, the resident requested her complaint to be escalated to stage 2 of the landlord’s complaint process. There was a delay in the landlord providing its stage 2 complaint response to the resident, due to this, the Ombudsman contacted the landlord in November 2023 asking it to provide its response. The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response to the resident on 21 November 2023, which was approximately 61 working days late. This would have caused inconvenience for the resident, as she was delayed in progressing her complaint to the Ombudsman because she needed to wait for the landlord’s final response before contacting our service.
  4. The landlord acknowledged that there were delays in issuing its stage 2 complaint response. It also acknowledged that it had previously spelled the resident’s name incorrectly in a previous email. The landlord apologised and offered the resident £130 compensation in its stage 2 complaint response for its complaint handling errors. The compensation offered to the resident complies with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance referenced above. The compensation proportionately reflects the impact of the delay on the resident, and it amounts to reasonable redress for this aspect of the complaint.

Determination (decision)

  1. 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, satisfactorily resolves the resident’s concerns about:
    1. a missed appointment by the landlord’s contractor.
    2. the landlord’s complaint handling.

 

 

 

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord pay the resident its original offer of £180 compensation and the £30 gift voucher offered during its complaint process if it has not already done so. The Ombudsman’s finding of reasonable redress is based on the understanding that this compensation will be paid.
  2. It is recommended that the landlord checks if a further 2 appointments were missed by its contractor and, if appropriate, award compensation for this in line with its compensation policy.