PSOW Individual Decisions

Ms X raised a formal complaint concerning damp and mould to Charter Housing Association (Part of the Pobl Group) in November 2023. She complained that she has not received its response. The Ombudsman found that the Association is still actively investigating her concerns and awaiting information but failed to update Ms X. This caused additional frustration for Ms X. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without and investigation. She sought and gained the Associations agreement to write to Ms X, within 2 weeks, apologising for failing to update her and to provide her with an explanation of the current position.

Mr R complained that the Charter Housing Association (Part of the Poble Group) failed to repair a communal gate since reporting its poor state in 2004, despite its contractor carrying out various inspections. The Ombudsman concluded that the Association had made attempts to repair the gate but it had failed to provide a formal complaint response to communicate this and to detail what went wrong and how it proposes to resolve his complaint. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation and sought and gained the Associations agreement to issue its complaint response and apologise for the delay within two weeks.

Miss X complained that the Association had not carried out the required repairs to her property and had not responded to her complaint in a timely manner. The Ombudsman was concerned about the significant delays Miss X had experienced in having repairs carried out, the delays receiving a response and that she had been inconvenienced by the organisation’s actions. The Association advised that it was not sustainable for it to carry out the necessary repairs and it had now offered Miss X an alternative property, with the removal costs being met by the Association. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation and also sought and gained the Association’s agreement to carry out the following within 2 weeks: · Provide Miss X with a formal apology for the delay in responding to her complaints · Provide Miss X with an explanation for the delays · Provide Miss X with a formal complaint response · Offer Miss X redress of £250 in recognition of the time and trouble caused to her in having to complain to the Ombudsman about the failures identified · Commit to review Miss X’s complaint history to ensure that lessons are learnt, and staff are trained to prevent any recurrence in the future