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Newham Council (202000455)

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REPORT

 

COMPLAINT 202000455

Newham Council

29 January 2021

 


Our approach

Under our early resolution process, the Ombudsman works with the resident and landlord to explore the issues in dispute, identify the matters that remain outstanding and assist in reaching an agreed settlement.

The complaint

  1. The resident complained about the landlord’s:
    1. Response to the loss of water supply to their property.
    2. Handling of their formal complaint.

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 55 (c) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress to the complainant which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.

How the complaint was resolved

  1. The resident complained to the landlord about the loss of water supply to their property.
  2. The landlord issued its final response to the complaint on 21 August 2020. It apologised for the water outage and the delay in investigating the resident’s complaint.
  3. The resident brought their complaint to this Service on 14 October 2020. We contacted them to discuss their complaint on 22 October 2020, and they agreed to take part in our mediation process. To resolve the complaint, the resident wanted the landlord to:
  • Arrange a joint inspection, so they could see the pumps for themselves.
  • Provide information on the repairs completed to the pumps and the invoices issued.
  • Provide details of any current maintenance work and explain what it was doing to avoid the issue from reoccurring.
  • Provide confirmation and evidence that all three pumps are in good working order.
  • Offer compensation of £300 for the stress and inconvenience from the loss of water and, their time and trouble pursuing the repair.
  1. This Service contacted the landlord to discuss the resident’s requests. On 12 November 2020, the landlord agreed that it would:
    • Arrange the joint inspection.
    • Provide the resident with information about the repair to the pumps, a description of what works were completed and, the invoices issued.
    • Provide the resident with information on any current maintenance works to the pumps and explain what action it is taking to avoid the issue from reoccurring.
    • Provide the resident with confirmation and evidence that the pumps were currently in working order.
    • Compensate the resident £300
  2. On 7 December 2020, we confirmed what the landlord agreed to do, with the resident and they confirmed that they were happy with the landlord’s response and considered the matter resolved.
  3. Paragraph 55 (c) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states that:
    1. “At any time, the Ombudsman may determine the investigation of a complaint immediately if satisfied that the member has made an offer of redress following the Ombudsman’s intervention which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily. This will result in a finding of ‘resolved with intervention’.”
  4. I am therefore satisfied, following the intervention of this Service, that the landlord has now taken actions to remedy the matters raised which resolve the complaint satisfactorily.

 

Recommendations

  1. This Service is aware that the landlord made contact with the resident on 15 December 2020 and confirmed:

–          The joint inspection would be postponed until the Government restrictions in place as a result of Covid19 pandemic, have been lifted.

–          It was working to provide the information the resident requested about the pumps maintenance and repairs undertaken and would get in touch with the resident about this, by 22 December 2020.

–          It would arrange for compensation to be paid upon receipt of the resident’s bank details.  

 

The Ombudsman accepts that, because of the present restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, the timing of the joint inspection agreed will depend on what is reasonable in the light of Government guidance regarding the health of the resident and of the landlord’s staff. Therefore, we recommend that, once restrictions which affect the inspection are lifted, the landlord contact the resident within three weeks with an update setting out how it will arrange this.