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The Guinness Partnership Limited (202206388)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202206388

The Guinness Partnership Limited

18 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 handling of:
    1. The resident’s reports of issues with the storage heaters.
    2. The associated complaint.

Background

  1. The resident was an assured tenant of the property, a 1-bedroom flat. She had lived there alone since June 2018.
  2. The resident had reported problems with her storage heaters from 2019. On 29 June 2022 the resident made a formal complaint to the landlord that despite several repairs, the issues had not been resolved. The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response on 13 July 2022. It agreed to replace the heaters and paid the resident £200 compensation.
  3. The landlord fitted new storage heaters on 3 November 2022 and 3 days later, the resident reported further problems. The landlord attended on 6 November and identified the resident’s electric meter did not support the economy 7 setting of her heaters. The landlord advised the resident to contact her electricity company.
  4. On 14 April 2023, the resident contacted the landlord to escalate her complaint. She said it had taken over 2 years for the landlord to determine the fault, and she had been without heating. The landlord informed the resident it was unable to escalate the complaint as the stage 1 response had been issued 8 months earlier. Instead, the landlord raised a new complaint.
  5. The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response on 18 May 2023. It apologised for the stress and inconvenience the resident had experienced and set out its findings:
    1. It was unable to investigate historic matters and those that had been dealt with in previous complaints.
    2. It had advised the resident that it was not responsible for electric meter, and she would need to raise the matter with her electric supplier.
    3. It offered the resident £135 compensation, made up of:
      1. £75 for poor communication.
      2. £60 for delays to resolving the complaint.
  6. The resident was unhappy with the response and escalated her complaint with the landlord on 30 May 2023. On 1 July 2023 the landlord issued its stage 2 response that repeated the findings from stage 1.
  7. The resident remained dissatisfied and brought the complaint to this Service. In January 2025, the resident moved to a different property.

Assessment and findings

  1. Paragraph 53.c. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states that, “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.”

The Ombudsman’s intervention

  1. This Service contacted the landlord on 5 February 2025 and provided it with a summary of the Ombudsman’s understanding of events. This included the Ombudsman’s provisional comments as to what the landlord could do to resolve the resident’s complaint.

The landlord’s offer of redress

  1. On 6 February 2025 the landlord provided this Service with evidence that it had acted on the Ombudsman’s provisional comments which would involve paying the resident a further £1,500 compensation.
  2. The resident has informed the Ombudsman that she is satisfied with this as a resolution to his complaint.
  3. The Ombudsman is 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.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.c. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the landlord has made an offer of redress, following the Ombudsman’s intervention which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.