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Sovereign Network Group (202302422)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202302422

Sovereign Network Homes

27 February 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:
    1. Handling of the resident’s reports of loss of heating and hot water.
    2. Complaint handling.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord of a 2-bedroom house. The property has a heat pump which provides heating and hot water. The landlord is a housing association. The evidence indicates that the resident is vulnerable however, it does not state what her vulnerabilities are.
  2. On 9 December 2022, the resident reported that she had no heating or hot water in her property. The landlord’s contractor attended on the same day to inspect the heat pump, however, they could not fix the issue.
  3. On 12 December 2022, the resident informed the landlord that she wanted to complain about being left without heating and hot water, and about the lack of communication from the landlord about a follow-up appointment. The landlord’s contractor attended on the same date, but was again unable to repair the heat pump. The contractor provided her with 2 temporary heaters.
  4. The resident raised her complaint again on 15 December 2022. She reported that the property was cold, and this was affecting her health and wellbeing. The resident suggested that the landlord should either provide her with a larger heating unit or move her to a hotel. The resident also requested the landlord to send her a letter confirming it would provide financial help with her electricity bill. She said that the landlord’s communication had been poor.
  5. The contractor replaced the heat pump on 20 December 2022, which restored heating in the resident’s property. on 21 December 2022, the resident informed the landlord that she had received her electricity bill, and the readings stated that she had used £112 of electric during the 11 days without heating.
  6. The landlord spoke to the resident on 28 December 2022 and offered her £75 towards her electricity bill. It noted that the resident could not provide actual costing for the heaters during the 11-day period. The landlord stated that the resident could escalate her complaint to stage 2 if she wanted the whole electricity bill to be paid. The landlord did not issue a written stage 1 response.
  7. The resident further contacted the landlord on 3 January 2023 and stated that she was disappointed with the way it had treated her and the request to be reimbursed for electricity usage had still not been resolved. The resident further contacted the landlord on 1 March 2023 and requested an update on her stage 2 complaint. She said that, in order to resolve her complaint, the landlord should offer £150 for costs incurred while she had no heating or hot water, as well as additional compensation for the distress caused.
  8. The resident raised her complaint with the Ombudsman on 19 April 2023. She stated that the heating loss occurred during a period of cold weather and that the fan heaters provided were ineffective. She said that the landlord showed little concern in making sure she was adequately warm during this period, or that her health had not suffered. The resident said that she had received no contact from the landlord regarding its stage 2 response. The resident stated that the landlord should compensate her £150 for the costs incurred and £100 for the distress caused.
  9. The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response on 7 September 2023 following intervention by the Ombudsman. It concluded that there was no evidence the resident had been treated unfairly. It stated that the heat pump was repaired in 7 working days which was within its service level agreement and that it took steps to explore what financial assistance could be provided to her. The landlord partially upheld the complaint due to the time taken to provide the stage 2 response. It offered £250 compensation, made up as follows:
    1. £170 to cover the increased electric bill.
    2. £80 in recognition of the time taken to respond to the complaint.
  10. The resident informed the Ombudsman that, in order to resolve her complaint, the landlord should acknowledge the situation it left her in. The resident also said that the compensation offered did not cover her energy bill and that she felt like the amount offered for the distress and inconvenience caused was low.

 

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of loss of heating and hot water.

  1. The landlord’s repairs and maintenance policy states that it will attend emergency repairs within 24 hours. Emergency repairs include heating and/or hot water failure during winter months. The policy states that as a minimum, it will make safe all emergency jobs and will return to complete any required follow-on works at an agreed appointed time. It states that the landlord may compensate residents in situations where it has failed to provide alternative heating while awaiting repair.
  2. When the resident initially reported the loss of heating and hot water on 9 December 2022, the landlord responded in line with the 24-hour timeframe set out in its repairs policy. The contractor attended again on 12 December 2022 and the repairs notes state that the hot water was restored, but the heating could not be fixed. The contractor notes also state that the resident was vulnerable. In February 2025, the resident informed us that she had no hot water until the heat pump was repaired, which is in contradiction to the information documented by the landlord. On 14 December 2022, the landlord notified the resident that a part needed to be ordered to fix the heat pump, and the contractor would return to complete the repair on 20 December 2022.
  3. The evidence supports that the nature of the issue meant the heat pump could not be repaired quickly. As such, the landlord was responsible for taking steps to try to mitigate the impact on the resident of the loss of heating and hot water. The Ombudsman’s Spotlight report on complaints about heating, hot water and energy states that where a problem with the heating or hot water cannot be resolved quickly, landlords should ensure that residents have access to temporary heating and provide a clear timescale for repairs.
  4. The landlord should have provided heaters after the contractor’s initial inspection on 9 December 2022. However, the repair notes are unclear regarding whether the heaters were provided on the contractor’s first or second visit. The landlord provided the resident with an additional 2 heaters on 14 December 2022. When she raised her complaint on 15 December 2022, the resident stated that the property was cold and that she had been informed by the Citizens Advice Bureau that the landlord should provide her with a better heater or move her to a hotel.
  5. The landlord noted that it tried to contact the resident by phone on 16 December 2022 but was unable to get through. However, there is no evidence to indicate that it made further attempts to contact her either by phone or other means to discuss her concerns. While the landlord acted appropriately by providing temporary heaters, it should have given consideration to her specific requests for either a better heating unit or temporary accommodation and made further efforts to discuss ways it could mitigate the impact of loss of heating. Further, there is no evidence that the landlord asked her about her vulnerabilities. The landlord should have discussed this with the resident to establish whether she had additional support needs.
  6. After the heating had been restored, the resident requested £112 to cover her energy bill for the days that she was without heating. However, in January 2023, she reported that her supplier had got the figures wrong and the cost was more than originally stated. The resident later said that the additional usage had cost her £150. In its stage 2 response, the landlord stated that the bill for the period 26 November 2022 to 20 December 2022 was £209.77, and it offered the resident £170 to cover the cost of the energy usage. It is unclear whether the resident sent a further energy bill to the landlord to reflect the correct amount.
  7. The actual financial loss incurred by the resident during the time that she was without heating is unclear. However, the amount offered by the landlord was in accordance with the amount that the resident had requested. Further, the amount covered the majority of the monthly energy bill for the time that she was without heating. The amount offered was therefore reasonable to redress the financial impact on the resident. However, there was a delay in the landlord making this offer, which has been considered below. 

The landlord’s complaint handling

  1. The landlord’s complaint handling policy states that when a stage 1 complaint is received, it will aim to agree a solution with the resident within 10 working days. If the resident remains unhappy with the decision, it can be reviewed at stage 2 of the complaints process. The policy states that the landlord will respond to stage 2 complaints within 20 working days, and that it if more time is required, it may take up to a further 10 days to make the decision. The Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (The Code) states that landlords must confirm complaint decisions in writing.
  2. The resident initially informed the landlord that she wanted to complain on 12 December 2022. She raised the complaint in writing on 15 December 2022 and the landlord confirmed it had been logged on 16 December 2022. The resident was dissatisfied with the landlord’s offer of £75 to pay for her additional energy usage and the complaint was therefore not initially resolved. The landlord did not provide a written stage 1 response, and therefore did not act in line with the Code.
  3. On 4 January 2023, the landlord identified that the complaint should be escalated to stage 2. The resident chased the landlord for an update on 1 March 2023 and the landlord confirmed that the complaint had been escalated on 5 April 2023. The resident referred her complaint to the Ombudsman and we sent requests for action to the landlord on 1 and 11 August 2023. The landlord issued the stage 2 response on 7 September 2023.
  4. The Code states that the early and local resolution of issues between landlords and residents is key to effective complaint handling. However, the landlord issued its stage 2 response approximately 9 months after the complaint had been escalated to stage 2. This was significantly in excess of the 20-working day timeframe stipulated in the landlord’s complaints policy, and was a failing by the landlord.
  5. Where there are failings by a landlord, the Ombudsman’s role is to consider whether suitable remedies have been offered in line with the Ombudsman’s Dispute Resolution Principles: be fair, put things right, and learn from outcome. The landlord appropriately acknowledged the complaint handling failing and offered £80 in recognition of the time taken to respond to the complaint. However, the amount offered is insufficient to remedy the impact of this delay.
  6. The resident is likely to have experienced distress and inconvenience due to the delay in resolving her complaint, as well as concern regarding the additional energy costs she had been required to pay. An order has been made below for the landlord to pay the resident a further £100 compensation in recognition of the distress and inconvenience caused by this delay. The total amount of £180 is in accordance with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance for financial redress for failings that adversely affected the resident.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53b of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord offered redress that was reasonable to remedy its handling of the resident’s reports of loss of heating and hot water.
  2. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was service failure regarding the landlord’s complaint handling.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks, the landlord must:
    1. Pay the resident a total of £350. This should be paid directly, rather than credited to her rent account. The amount is made up as follows:
      1. £250 already offered by the landlord at stage 2, if this has not already been paid. The reasonable redress finding is made on the basis of this sum being paid to the resident.
      2. £100 compensation in recognition of the distress and inconvenience caused as a result of its complaint handling.
    2. Send a letter of apology to the resident for the identified failures and acknowledge the impact on her.
    3. Provide evidence of compliance with the orders to the Ombudsman within the timeframe specified.

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord speaks to the resident to understand any vulnerabilities she has and identify any support needs.