Housing Ombudsman issues first finding of severe failings around information management

The Housing Ombudsman has told Livv Housing Group to pay a resident nearly £3,000 in compensation after its delayed repairs and inability to inspect the source of the issue left him in a damp and leaky home for four years.

The Ombudsman also said that the landlord’s records had exacerbated the issue and also its ability to investigate, leading to another severe maladministration finding.

This is the first time the Ombudsman has found severe failings around information management.

The Liverpool resident said this left him “on the verge of a nervous breakdown” and caused him frustration and stress, according to the Ombudsman.

“When the resident first raised the damp, the landlord’s records show the job was cancelled the next day, saying it was raised in error. The landlord says it attended to remove the existing plaster and damp proof the ceiling, but it was not clear whether the landlord investigated the source of the leak at this time,” it said.

Two months later, another report of damp was made at the home but a month later the job was cancelled due to it “no longer being needed”.

The Ombudsman said that over the next three and a half years there was evidence of eight repairs works being carried out to various aspects of the home. After an inspection for rising damp was declared as “no access” by the landlord, there was no follow up with the resident to try and reschedule.

“There are multiple instances where the landlord’s repairs and the repairs log seem to not align, with one repair to the ceiling not appearing to be backed up by inspections or reports, meaning it is unclear how the works were decided.”

The Ombudsman said Livv’s repair logs did not contain sufficient detail. “Some, albeit limited, actions were taken by the landlord which were not recorded in the records, and that where actions were recorded, the information is limited.”

After the problems were not solved by repairs efforts, the resident advised the landlord that he would look to instruct a solicitor, so he did not face the issues for another four years.

“Whilst letting the resident know about the claim he could make, the staff member responded inappropriately by referencing a missed appointment and saying the landlord is able to ‘defend cases successfully when appointments are made and broken’,” the Ombudsman said.

Livv Housing Group was told to apologise in person to the resident, as well as concduct a review of its repairs record keeping, including its logging process to ensure repairs are cross-referenced across systems and the audit trail is clear.

Livv has also been told to review current reports and complaints raised by other residents in the building who may have been affected by the leak.

The Ombudsman also called on the landlord to review its complaint handling against the Complaint Handling Code and produce guidance on responding to enquiries from residents relating to legal action in repair cases.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “There was a deep lack of professionalism in the way this case was handled, and the heavy-handed behaviour of some staff after multiple failings by the landlord was inappropriate.

“The landlord failed to appropriately investigate and remedy the source of the leak for four years. This poor handling means other residents may have been affected, and therefore we recommended the landlord take action to investigate this further.

“Its repairs records are brief, without sufficient detail of its actions.”

Blakeway added: “Accurate and complete repair records ensure that the landlord can monitor and manage outstanding repairs, understand the condition of its homes, and provide accurate information to residents.

“They also assist the landlord in fulfilling its repair obligations and providing such information to the Ombudsman and other third parties when requested.

“Our recent Spotlight report on Knowledge and Information Management spelt out the necessity of record keeping, and we hope the landlord takes those recommendations on board.”

The Ombudsman also found maladministration for the landlord’s complaint handling.

In a statement Livv Housing Group said it recognised that the case “went on far too long and a more holistic approach should’ve been taken to resolve the issue sooner”.

The landlord added that on each occasion an issue was reported, it undertook repairs to the home. “However, this didn’t prevent the problem recurring and we should’ve recognised this.”

It said it had used the case to develop its learning:

• further strengthening the awareness of its Damp Treatment Framework “to ensure all customer facing colleagues can identify and report on cases at the earliest opportunity”.
• developing a Damp Dashboard that uses data to identify hotspots and trends in cases being reported. “This will allow us to begin to proactively engage with our customers to resolve issues early and ensure any repairs we undertake resolve the problem.”
• introducing a new repairs management software to enhance its ability to track a repair from start to finish and improve its record keeping.
• expanding its Complaints Team and improved its systems and procedures “to ensure that all complaints are responded to and handled according to our policy timescales, keeping customers updated at every stage”.

“We’ve complied with the orders of the Ombudsman and we’ll continue to learn from this case to improve our service for customers and mitigate the risk of similar failings occurring again,” Livv added.