PSOW Individual Decisions

Mrs A complained that the Housing Association had failed to carry out maintenance on the correct part of the boundary between her property and the neighbouring Housing Association property which caused damage to her fence. Mrs A complained that some of the maintenance that had been carried out caused damage to her boundary and subsequently a lack of security at her property. The Ombudsman found that the Housing Association had not clearly understood and addressed Mrs A’s concerns and this caused additional frustration and uncertainty for Mrs A. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without a formal investigation. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Housing Associations agreement to a site meeting to review the boundary between the properties by 30 March, provide a written report detailing maintenance work agreed within one week of the site meeting and complete the agreed works within one month of the report.

Mr A complained about works carried out at his home by a contractor on behalf of Codi Group (“the Body”). The Ombudsman noted that despite Mr A putting his complaint to the Body, the contractor had responded. The Ombudsman was concerned that there was no formal response from the Body. The Ombudsman sought and gained the Body’s agreement to, within 2 weeks, apologise to Mr A for not responding, and set out the scope of his concerns. Then, within 6 weeks, to respond to Mr A directly under its complaints procedure.