PSOW Individual Decisions

Mrs X complained that Clwyd Alyn Housing Association failed to install cages over CCTV cameras following a complaint to the Association of her neighbour’s anti-social behaviour. The Ombudsman found that the Association responded appropriately to Mrs X’s complaint about her neighbours ASB; however, they had failed to install cages over the CCTV cameras in a timely manner due to supplier issues. The Ombudsman said this caused delay and frustration to Mrs X and decided to settle the complaint without an Investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Associations agreement to write to Mrs X within 2 weeks with an apology and explanation for the delay in installing the cages and for the misinformation provided in the stage 2 complaint response. The Association also agreed to install cages over the CCTV cameras and will offer Mrs X up to £500 in financial redress towards the cost of any reparation work to her car.

Mr D complained that Clwyd Alyn Housing Association had failed to deal with the anti-social behaviour of his neighbours, which led to an arson attack and caused damage to his home. The Ombudsman found that the Association had responded to Mr D’s complaint but had only focused on the damage to Mr D’s property and failed to acknowledge or respond to the concerns of anti-social behaviour. She said this caused additional frustration for Mr D. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Association’s agreement to write to Mr D, within two weeks, to apologise for the oversight and address the concerns.

Miss S complained that despite raising concerns about a housing officer of Clwyd Alyn Housing Association, the Association allowed the housing officer to contact Miss S thereafter. The Ombudsman decided that the Association failed to escalate Miss S’ concerns under its statutory complaints procedure and failed to acknowledge the nature of the concern. She said this caused frustration to Miss S. As an alternative to an investigation, the Ombudsman sought and gained the Associations agreement to provide Miss S with an apology for its failings and issue a formal response within 30 working days.