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Southern Housing (202421343)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202421343

Southern Housing

24 July 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 the resident’s concerns about setting up energy accounts.
  2. The Ombudsman has also considered the landlord’s complaint handling.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord. The tenancy started on 5 April 2023. The landlord is a Housing Association.
  2. On 21 April 2023, the resident complained to the landlord that she was unable to open gas and electric accounts with her desired provider because the previous accounts were still open. The landlord said it was unable to raise a complaint about this because the resident could resolve the issue by contacting the energy suppliers with meter readings and advising them that she was responsible from 5 April 2023 onwards.
  3. The resident continued to report problems with her energy accounts to the landlord in 2023 and 2024. This included being unable to open accounts in her name and switch providers. She said this was because the landlord remained on the electricity account.
  4. On 9 September 2024, the resident complained to the landlord about ongoing issues with her energy accounts. She said the issue had been ongoing for over a year, the landlord had ignored her, and this had resulted in stress, and debt on the accounts. She wanted the landlord to reimburse her for the debts she felt were due to the landlord’s handling of the issue.
  5. The landlord responded at stage 1 on 22 November 2024. It apologised for poor and misleading communication. The landlord said it should have dealt with the accounts prior to her tenancy starting. The landlord offered £770 compensation. This included a discretionary offer of £600 to recognise the time spent pursuing the matter, £70 for failures in service, and £100 for complaint handling. It said it would review the gas and electricity closing statements to review for a refund and provide an update on this on 20 December 2024.
  6. The landlord contacted the resident on 31 December 2024 and requested her latest energy bill up to the point which she was disputing. The resident provided bills in January 2025. The resident escalated her complaint on 22 January 2025. She said the landlord had not updated her on 20 December 2024 as promised or responded to the bills she had sent it for review.
  7. The landlord issued its final response on 9 April 2025. It said it responded to the concerns raised and made an appropriate offer of compensation at stage 1. The landlord said it had not received a response from the resident to its email in December 2024, but its notes stated the statements provided had been paid in November 2024. The landlord acknowledged the delay in contacting the resident in December 2024, and the delay to its final response. It offered an additional £100 of compensation for these delays.
  8. The resident remained dissatisfied. The resident told the landlord on 9 April 2025 that it had not responded to the utility bills she provided or provided evidence of payments made. She said the landlord had not offered a solution to an issue with meter wiring, and she was still unable to have a pay as you go meter installed because of this. The resident told us that she could not set up accounts for a period of time, change supplier, or set up pay as you go utility accounts and this resulted in debt on her energy accounts. The resident wanted the landlord to reimburse her energy bills and fix a fault with the meter wiring for her to be able to set up pay as you go energy accounts.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. Some of the issues raised to us by the resident happened following the end of the complaints process. This includes a visit by the energy company in July 2025 which raised concerns about the safety of the meter wiring. The scope of this investigation centres on the issues raised during the resident’s formal complaint, to which the landlord sent its final response on 9 April 2025. Any issues or requests after that time should be raised as new complaints with the landlord before they can potentially be investigated by the Ombudsman.
  2. The resident has referred to the situation impacting her health. The Ombudsman is unable to assess the cause of, or liability for, impacts on health and wellbeing. The resident may be able to make a personal injury claim if she considers that her health has been affected by the landlord’s actions or inaction. This is a legal process, and the resident may wish to seek legal advice if she wants to pursue this option. As this issue is more effectively resolved and remedied through the courts it will not be considered in this report.
  3. Part of the resident’s complaint relates to the energy supplier’s actions in regard to decisions about opening accounts, requests to switch suppliers and debt on accounts. Matters relating to disputes with energy suppliers would usually be for consideration by the Energy Ombudsman. As such, the resident may wish to refer her concerns regarding this to the Energy Ombudsman.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s concerns about setting up energy accounts

  1. The tenancy agreement states the resident is responsible for paying utility charges. The landlord is responsible for keeping in working order any installations it has provided for supplying gas or electricity.
  2. The landlord’s welcome booklet for new residents says that when residents sign a tenancy, the landlord will arrange for the supply to be transferred into the resident’s name and let the resident know who the suppliers are. The resident will then need to contact the suppliers to set up accounts.
  3. The landlord’s void lettable standard says utilities will be cleared of debt during the void works period.
  4. The landlord’s compensation policy says it will consider paying compensation for all or part of a quantifiable loss. It may offer discretionary compensation on top of compensation to cover a resident’s loss, if appropriate. The landlord’s compensation framework states that where a resident has incurred additional costs due to a service failure of over £25, the resident will need to provide a proof of the loss or incurred costs. It is at the landlord’s discretion as to whether to pay all or part of the loss. It says service failures should be paid at £15.00, and £50 for complaint handling. The landlord can make discretionary compensation payments of between £50-£700 and £700 plus.
  5. The landlord’s stage 1 complaint response acknowledged that it had not provided the resident with the details of the energy suppliers as stated in the welcome pack. This initially delayed her opening accounts.
  6. The resident first told the landlord on 21 April 2023 that she was not able to open energy accounts because previous accounts were still active. From the evidence provided it was not clear when the issue was fully resolved. On 11 May 2023, the resident told the landlord the issue with the gas was resolved on 19 April 2023, but the electricity supplier would not allow her to transfer her account to her desired provider because the account held by the landlord (from the void period) was outstanding.
  7. The landlord told the resident on 11 May 2023 that it had closed the previous energy accounts, and it had advised the resident to call the energy suppliers to set up her accounts. This was in line with the guidance in its welcome pack. However, this was incorrect as it later confirmed its electricity account was still open.
  8. The evidence shows the resident told the landlord in May and June 2023 that she was still unable to swich supplier. The landlord responded in July 2023 and confirmed the energy supply was still with it, the account was in credit, and the resident could contact the supplier to confirm she wanted to switch to another provider. It is not clear if these instructions were correct, as the resident continued to report issues to the landlord about switching the account.
  9. In October 2023, the resident told the landlord she was unable to switch electricity supplier. She provided an email from a supplier which stated a switch request had been stopped by the current supplier. The resident said she felt she was not liable for the energy usage until it was switched. There was no evidence of the landlord updating the resident about this matter, despite her following up in December 2023, April 2024, and June 2024. This was unreasonable in the circumstances. The landlord’s communication with the resident about the issue was poor.
  10. Basic customer service is for a landlord to keep in communication with residents when dealing with issues. The landlord contacted the electricity supplier on 2 July 2024 and requested to settle the bill to date. It was not clear if this had resolved the issue with the resident opening her own account or switching providers. There was no evidence of the landlord updating the resident about the action it was taking. As a result, she continued to follow up with the landlord.
  11. In regard to the resident’s gas account, the landlord’s stage 1 response stated that this was put into the resident’s name on 18 June 2024. It apologised for the delay. The resident had confirmed to the landlord on 11 May 2023 that the gas supplier issue was resolved following the landlord’s confirmation that it had closed the previous account. There was no further evidence of the landlord taking action in regard to the gas account. The resident confirmed to us that the landlord had paid a gas bill in 2024. However, the landlord did not refer to this in its complaint responses or provide evidence of this. As such it was not clear how it resolved this issue.
  12. The landlord’s complaints process acknowledged its communication was poor and misleading, and it delayed transferring the accounts. It said it could have provided more concise instructions and information. It also acknowledged the resident had not been able to set up pay as you go accounts due to it not dealing with its utility accounts prior to the tenancy starting.
  13. The landlord has attempted to put things right for the resident by apologising and offering compensation of £670, which included a discretionary offer of £600 in line with its compensation framework to recognise the time taken in pursuing the issue. It also set out a plan of action to put things right for the resident.
  14. However, the landlord’s action plan to put things right for the resident was unclear. The resident informed us that the landlord had confirmed it would be reimbursing her for her full utility bills. While there is no evidence of the landlord confirming this, its stage 1 response states it will review energy bills for a refund, however it was not clear which utility bills it was referring to or the period of time these relate to. The landlord has confirmed to us that this related to the period the resident was unable to set up an account.
  15. Its stage 2 response stated it had paid the bills it referred to at stage 1 in November 2024 but provides no details to the resident about this. It said the resident had not responded to its email on 31 December 2024. This was incorrect. The resident had responded on 2 and 9 January 2025 with copies of her bills as requested. Part of her escalation was due to not receiving a response to this. The landlord failed to confirm to her the outcome of a review of these bills at stage 2 or confirm what it had actually paid as part of its resolution. As such the issue remains unresolved for the resident. An order has been made for the landlord to review this further.
  16. It was not clear from the evidence when the resident first raised the issue with the electricity meter wiring to the landlord. However, it included the issue in its stage 1 response. It said that in September 2024 an energy supplier attended to fit a meter and found the wiring for the electrics to be faulty, and the resident had provided the report to it. While the landlord acknowledged this had happened, and apologised for its general oversight on the matter, it did not confirm the action it had taken in response to her report or provide the resident with an update on this. The resident told us that she is unable to set up a pay as you go energy account until this issue is resolved.
  17. Overall, the landlord recognised its failures to transfer the energy accounts into the resident’s name when the tenancy started, its poor communication, and the distress caused to the resident. It attempted to put things right through an offer of compensation and action plan. However, the landlord failed to appropriately follow up on its promised actions, explain accurately what it had done to put things right, or provide the resident with a full response on the issue with the meter wiring. As such, we have found service failure because it failed to fully resolve the complaint. We have ordered a further amount of compensation in accordance with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance for when a landlord’s offer of action and compensation is not quite proportionate to the failings identified by our investigation.

Complaint handling

  1. The landlord’s complaint policy says a complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction about the standard of service, actions or lack of action. The landlord has a 2 stage complaints process. If, for any reason, it needs more than 10 working days at stage 1 or more than 20 working days at stage 2 to respond, it will explain why and provide an expected timescale for response. The policy says the landlord may be able to resolve a service request outside of its complaints policy. If it needs to make further enquiries to resolve the matter, or if the resident asks it to, it will log it as a complaint.
  2. The Complaint Handling Code says a complaint should be raised when a resident raises dissatisfaction with a response to their service request. If a landlord decides not to accept a complaint, a detailed explanation must be provided to the resident setting out the reasons why the matter is not suitable for the complaints process.
  3. The landlord acknowledged delays at both stages of its complaints process. It took 52 working days to respond at stage 1 and 50 working days at stage 2. The landlord provided multiple updates to the resident at both stages with reasons for the delays in line with its policy.
  4. The evidence shows the resident had previously attempted to raise a formal complaint about the issues with the energy accounts. On 23 April 2023, the landlord stated it was unable to open a complaint and provided its reason for this. However, this was not in line with its complaints policy which states it will log it as a complaint if the resident asks it to.
  5. The resident emailed the landlord on 28 December 2023, following up on her complaint attempt in April 2023, and told the landlord it had failed to resolve the matter. The landlord failed to raise a complaint in response to this clear expression of dissatisfaction. This was not in line with its policy or the Code.
  6. The resident discussed her concerns about the issues with her energy accounts in April 2024. The landlord confirmed to the resident on 10 April 2024 that it had not investigated the issue as part of an unrelated complaint but had passed the issue on internally. Again, the landlord failed to recognise the resident’s expression of dissatisfaction and log a complaint.
  7. In an email on 26 June 2024, the resident told the landlord she was “appalled” and in great distress due to the unresolved issues with her energy accounts. While the landlord again told the resident it had raised the issue internally, it failed to recognise the resident’s ongoing dissatisfaction with its actions. The landlord missed several opportunities to raise a complaint for the resident earlier. This resulted in a protracted complaint process for the resident, who had to repeatedly raise her dissatisfaction for over a year before the landlord raised a formal complaint.
  8. Overall, the landlord acknowledged its delays at both stages and compensated for this in line with its complaints policy. It also recognised its delay in completing the actions in its stage 1 response and offered appropriate compensation for this. However, the landlord failed to open a complaint earlier when the resident had clearly expressed her dissatisfaction with its actions. As a result, she had to continue to take the time and trouble to repeatedly raise the issue. The landlord’s complaint response did not recognise this failure and as such it did not fully resolve the complaint or show it had taken learning from it. Therefore, we have found service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling. It would be appropriate for the landlord to pay the resident further compensation of £50. This amount is in line with the landlord’s compensation policy and the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s concerns about setting up energy accounts.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was service failure in the landlord’s complaint handling.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report the landlord must:
    1. apologise to the resident for the further failures identified in this report.
    2. pay the resident further compensation of £50 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its poor complaint handling. This is in addition to the £200 already offered.
    3. pay the resident compensation of £100 for the distress and inconvenience caused by the further failings found in its handling of the resident’s concerns about setting up energy accounts. This is in addition to the £670 already offered.
    4. review the bills provided by the resident in January 2025. It is to assess this in line with its compensation policy and to provide the resident with a response which includes a full breakdown of any costs it has paid, agrees to pay, and an explanation of any it cannot pay.
    5. provide the resident with an update on the status of the fault she has reported with the electricity meter wiring.
  2. The landlord must provide evidence of compliance with the orders within the deadlines above.

Recommendation

  1. The landlord to review the instructions in its welcome pack about arranging gas and electric accounts to ensure it is correct and in line with the actions it takes when a tenancy starts.