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Paragon Asra Housing Limited (202000312)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202000312

Paragon Asra Housing Limited

30 April 2021


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 concerns the landlord’s handling of the resident’s report of a faulty thermostat on the boiler and any impact the issue had on her gas bills. 

 

Background and summary of events

Background

  1. The resident is an Assured tenant. The property is a one–bedroom flat.

 

  1. The landlord has supplied Gas Safety records showing annual services were carried out at the property on 16 March 2018, 4 January 2019 and 7 October 2019.

 

  1. The landlord’s summary of repairs for the gas boiler shows following a check on 4 January 2019, the landlord’s contractor visited the property again on 8 January 2019 with the reason stated as: ‘a noisy boiler’. In the Work Completed column for this date it is stated: “adjusted gas valve CEO settings replaced G10 burner seal clean spark electrode top pressure up. All ok”. The repair sheet for 9 January 2019 stated: “no issues found with boiler”.

 

Summary of Events

  1. During an annual service carried out on the boiler on 7 October 2019, it was found that the temperature control knob was missing. The landlord’s repair records show a new thermostat was fitted to the boiler on 21 October 2019 with the related job sheet stating: “new room stat and temp control knob fitted”.
  2. On 25 November 2019, the resident emailed the landlord advising the issue with the boiler had resulted in higher than usual gas bills. She enclosed a transcript of a Livechat conversation she had had with her energy provider in which she had queried the high bills and told it that she had “barely” been at home. The provider said her bills were accurate and that whilst they could see how many units had been used, they could not tell what they had been used for and advised that her landlord would need to check if the boiler/thermostat was the cause of the higher usage.  

 

  1. In its email response of the same date the landlord stated it could not see how the issue with the thermostat and boiler could have contributed to the size of her gas bills.

 

  1. On 27 November 2019, the landlord issued a stage one response to the resident stating it understood that the energy supplier had advised they are unable to confirm how much gas was used due to the fault with the thermostat. It said its records confirm that the breakdown was reported by its contractor on 9 October 2019 and that the thermostat was replaced on 21 October 2019. It stated it would be difficult to calculate the usage difference due to cost per unit of electric and gas in comparison to the year before.  Also, there would be a difference in usage for the current year and any comparison year. However, it said using the guidance within its compensation policy, as a gesture of goodwill, it offered the resident £36. This was based on:

 

£10 under the Right to Repair = £10.00

£2.00 per day for every extra day x 13 = £26.00

Total = £36.00

 

  1. The landlord asked the resident to confirm her acceptance of its offer and advised her complaint would remain open for 28 days.

 

  1. In an email to the landlord dated 27 October 2019, the resident stated the landlord should have fixed the fault a year ago when she first told the landlord. She said she needed compensation for a year’s worth of bills.

 

  1. Following communication from the resident, the Ombudsman contacted the landlord on 21 May 2020 advising that the resident had informed us that she was dissatisfied with its previous offer of £36.00 made in relation to her complaint raised about higher energy bills which she said was due to a faulty thermostat on her boiler.

 

  1. The landlord wrote to the resident on 26 May 2020 advising she was able to escalate her complaint to stage two of its complaint procedure if she was unhappy with its stage one response dated 27 November 2019. It asked her to state the reasons for the escalation if she wished to do so.

 

  1. The resident advised the landlord on 19 June 2020 that she had asked her energy company to provide a statement of account. The resident received this information from her supplier on 29 June 2020 and forwarded this to the landlord on the same day. 

 

  1. The statement of account (gas) showed the resident’s total gas consumption between 10 May 2018 and 6 January 2020 cost £923.86 and the two highest quarterly bills within this timeframe were dated 15 February 2019 and 21 May 2019 for usage from 11 November 2018 to 14 February 2019 and were for £230.85 and £190.62 respectively. The resident’s next two bills dated 14 August 2019 and 15 November 2019 were lower amounts of £76.66 and £94.52.

 

  1. In its stage two response dated 15 July 2020, the landlord stated whilst it appreciated the resident’s frustration, it was only responsible for issues after they were reported to it. The fault with the boiler was reported to it on 9 October 2019 with the thermostat replaced on 21 October 2019. It said although this took longer than expected this was reflected in the initial compensation offer of £36.00. However, it advised that it would like to offer the resident £210.74 in full and final payment in regard to her complaint. It advised that if she felt it had missed or misunderstood something, she should make contact. The landlord stated her complaint would remain open for a further 28 days from the date of its letter. It also advised her complaint could be escalated to the Housing Ombudsman after eight weeks of the date of its email. 

 

  1. The resident got back in touch with the Ombudsman on 29 October 2020 advising she was unhappy with the landlord’s previous offer to pay £210.74 towards her energy bills as she had paid £1500 in gas/electric for the year due to the faulty thermostat.

 

  1. The Ombudsman relayed her request to the landlord.  Over the subsequent two months, the parties, via the Ombudsman, attempted to negotiate a resolution to the resident’s complaint .The landlord had said that based on the statement of account, the resident’s gas usage between 14 August 2019 to 14 November 2019 was £94.52 which it said did not seem like high usage but suggested looking at the resident’s billing over a longer period of time to establish the resident’s usage pre fault and post fault and compare the difference to calculate the compensation amount. It asked the resident to provide evidence of billing from 6 January 2020 to 13 August 2020 to enable a comparison of bills between 10 Aug 2018 to 13 Aug 2019 (£586.69) with the period from 14 August 2019 to 13 August 2020.
  2. The resident did not wish to supply these additional bills and the landlord subsequently advised it was only willing to increase its offer from £210.73 to  £250 without sight of the resident’s more recent bills to compare her usage before and after the thermostat was replaced. The resident declined its offer.

 

Policies and procedures

  1. Under clause 4.1 of the tenancy agreement, the landlord is responsible to keep in good repair and maintain in proper working order heating equipment and water heating equipment. Under clause 4.9, the tenant must report to the landlord immediately any repairs needed that it is responsible for.

 

  1. Appendix 3 of the landlord’s Maintenance Policy also states the landlord is responsible to keep in good repair and maintain in proper working order heating equipment and water heating equipment.

 

  1. The landlord is bound under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 to carry out a gas safety check to each of its properties with a gas supply. The gas safety check is carried out within twelve months of the previous year’s safety check on all systems and appliances regardless of ownership. Section 6 of the landlord’s Maintenance policy confirms the above.

 

  1. Under its Maintenance policy, the landlord states it will attend to priority one emergency repairs within 24 hours and priority two responsive repairs within 15 working days. Details of its Right to Repair Scheme is included at Appendix two.

 

  1. The landlord operates a two stage complaints process under which it has 10 working days to respond to complaints. If the complaint is not resolved at stage one, the complainant will have 28 working days to respond and explain why.

 

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s report of a faulty thermostat on the boiler

and any impact the issue had on her gas bills. 

 

  1. The landlord is responsible for carrying out annual gas safety checks and also for fixing any faults with the boiler or heating either reported by the resident or identified during the gas safety check.

 

  1. The landlord’s Gas Safety records confirm annual services were carried out at the property as required, including on 7 October 2019. The 7 October 2019 Gas Safety record shows that all checks passed, however, under ‘Description of all work done’ it is stated: “general check to boiler. Calibrated gas valve, all ok. Temp control knob missing on boiler”. The landlord’s repair record shows a thermostat was fitted to the boiler on 21 October 2019 with the related job sheet stating: “new room stat and temp control knob fitted”.

 

  1. Therefore, it is evident that a new room thermostat and temperature control knob was fitted on 21 October 2019 after an issue was identified with the thermostat during the annual Gas Safety check on 7 October 2019. It is unclear from the available evidence if this Gas Safety check of 7 October 2019 had been booked as routine or if it was prompted by the resident reporting a problem with the boiler.

 

  1. There is no evidence to suggest the missing temperature control posed any safety risk or meant the resident was unable to heat her home which would warrant an emergency repair however the landlord accepted that the 14 days taken to replace the thermostat and control knob was longer than should be expected. 

 

  1. In her stage one complaint the resident requested compensation for higher energy bills, suggesting the issue had impacted on consumption, leading to higher her bills.  In its response of the same date the landlord stated it could not see how the issue with the thermostat and boiler could have contributed to a higher gas bill. The resident did not explain why she believed the issue with the thermostat had impacted on her bills.

 

  1. In its stage one response the landlord said it was unable to offer compensation based on any difference in her usage but offered £36.00 in compensation based on its Right to Repair compensation scheme. It is clear this amount offered by the landlord was based on the time taken to replace the thermostat from when it was found missing by contractors on 7 October 2019 and reported to the landlord on 9 October 2019, until it was replaced on 21 October 2019. The resident had not evidenced any higher gas consumption associated with the faulty thermostat. Moreover, generally, a landlord is only responsible for a repair from the date it was made aware of a particular issue. Therefore, the landlord’s stage one response was reasonable, including its approach to calculating compensation.

 

  1. It is noted that in her email to the landlord dated 27 October 2019, the resident referred to a fault previously reported and suggested this had not been properly fixed.  The landlord’s records show it had visited the property earlier in the year on 9 January 2019 following a report of a “noisy” boiler. It seems some adjustments were made to the boiler at this time however the job sheet for the visit stated: “no issues with the boiler” suggesting the fault, if any, had been fixed. Moreover, there is no evidence of the resident reporting any further issue with the boiler between then and the 7 October 2019 annual service.

 

  1. Following the resident subsequently providing the ‘statement of account’ from her energy provider in June 2020, the landlord increased its offer of compensation to £210.73 in its Stage two response. It did not explain the basis of this calculation at the time but it has since said this amount represents 50% of the total sum of the resident’s higher gas bills dated 15 February 2019 and 21 May 2019 totalling £421.47.

 

  1. Having reviewed the resident’s quarterly gas bills between 10 May 2018 and 6 January 2020 as shown in the statement of account from her energy supplier, this evidence does not establish if the fault with the thermostat led to higher gas bills.  Further, it is noted the higher bill amounts of 15 February 2019 and 21 May 2019, were for gas consumption during the winter months when typically more gas is used to heat the home. The resident’s next two bills dated 14 August 2019 and 15 November 2019 were for consumption over warmer months -from 21 May 2019 to 14 November 2019- and were significantly lower amounts despite the fault with the thermostat identified during this period on 7 October 2019. In any event, the resident had not reported any issue to the landlord prior to 7 October 2019, therefore the landlord was not responsible for any timeframe prior to this.

 

  1. The reason for the landlord’s increased offer is unclear, however due to the lack of evidence to show any link between the resident’s higher than expected gas bills and the issue found with the thermostat on 7 October 2019, the landlord’s increased compensation offer of £210.73 towards the resident’s bills, was generous.

 

  1. In conclusion, the landlord carried out the required annual services on the boiler and including on 7 October 2019. It also replaced the room thermostat and temperature control on 21 October 2019 after the fault was reported to it on 9 October 2019. As such, the landlord acted appropriately when handling the report of a faulty thermostat on the resident’s boiler.  On receipt of the resident’s stage one complaint, it offered to pay the resident compensation based on the time taken to resolve the issue. This was appropriate in the circumstances. The billing evidence supplied does not establish any clear correlation between higher bills and the missing parts of the thermostat discovered on 7 October 2019 yet in its stage two response the landlord offered to cover 50% of the resident’s two highest bills received that year, totalling £210.73, which was more than reasonable. It subsequently increased this offer to £250 during mediation facilitated by the Ombudsman in an attempt to resolve the resident’s complaint.

 

  1. When considering how a landlord has responded to a complaint, the Ombudsman considers not just what has gone wrong, but also what the landlord has done to put things right in response to a complaint. This includes the steps the landlord has taken to address the shortcoming including any compensation offered. In response to the resident’s complaint, the landlord has taken appropriate steps to acknowledge the time taken to repair the boiler and offered compensation that was more than reasonable. In doing so, the landlord has demonstrated its intention to resolve the complaint.

 

Determination (decision)

  1. In accordance with paragraph 55(c) of the Scheme, the landlord made an offer of redress following the Ombudsman’s intervention which, in our opinion, resolves the resident’s complaint about a faulty thermostat on the boiler and any impact the issue had on her gas bills, satisfactorily.

Reasons

  1. The landlord fitted a new room thermostat and temperature control after an issue with this was found during an annual Gas Safety check on 7 October 2019.There was a slight delay with installing the new equipment but the landlord offered reasonable compensation in its stage one response to reflect this. In its stage two response the landlord increased its offer of compensation despite a lack of evidence to support the complaint that the faulty thermostat on her boiler affected the resident’s gas bills. The landlord increased this offer again during mediation.

Orders and recommendations

Recommendation

  1. The Ombudsman recommends that the landlord pay the resident the compensation of £250 offered to resolve the complaint.