Ombudsman issues severe maladministration findings against major housing association

The Housing Ombudsman has reiterated its recommendations from a special investigation into Clarion, which found two cases of severe maladministration by the landlord.

The special investigation report called for changes to Clarion's “slow and ineffective” complaints handling process. The landlord was ordered to pay a total of £3,470 in compensation.

In one case, the Ombudsman found severe maladministration for the landlord’s complaint handling, as well as maladministration for its repairs, compensation offer and record keeping.

A South London resident had reported the ceiling in the bathroom hanging off the wall and the flat smelling of mould, the Ombudsman revealed.

Four months after making the formal complaint, the repairs were still outstanding and the resident complained of a large hole in the bathroom, tiles coming off walls, water damage, mould in several rooms and rainwater coming in when it rained, the report noted.

The landlord accepted that there were a number of failings on its part in its handling of repairs and formal complaint.

The resident explained that she was dissatisfied with the level of compensation offered by the landlord, which she said did not reflect the stress that the situation caused her and her family. She noted that the problem lasted over a period of years and “caused great distress to myself but also my young children; one of which has a disability”.

The Ombudsman said: “There was little indication that the landlord considered the resident’s concerns about the living conditions in the property in its complaint response and compensation calculations and did not therefore demonstrate that the adverse impact of its failings, which were serious and cumulative.”

In this case, to remedy the injustice caused, the Ombudsman ordered the landlord to pay £2,270 in compensation and for a senior staff member to “issue an apology in person to help strengthen the resident/landlord relationship”.

In the second case, the Ombudsman found severe maladministration for the landlord’s complaint handling, as well as maladministration for its handling of damp and mould and record keeping.

The resident behind the complaint had noticed mould on wood panels in the loft, which he reported to the landlord.

The landlord pointed him towards the direction of the National House Building Council (NHBC), who had provided a warranty and insurance policy for the newly built property.

The report noted that the NHBC referred the resident back to Clarion, as the landlord held the policy documents and needed to make any insurance claim. 

The landlord’s surveyor made inspections, but the landlord “did not retain copies of the inspection reports, nor did it tell the resident what action it would take or respond to his request for an update”, the Ombudsman said.

After numerous further delays in which the works were left outstanding, the resident was offered £25 compensation in the stage one response and a further £150 in its stage two response for the delay in issuing the response and ‘a failure of service standards’.

The Ombudsman investigated and concluded that “the compensation offer was not proportionate to the circumstances of the case. There was also no evidence that the landlord had fully identified what went wrong, put things right, or learnt from outcomes”.

The Ombudsman also found “serious failings” in the landlord’s record keeping. The report noted that the landlord did not keep a record of the initial inspections or of the claim sent to the NHBC.

Furthermore, there was no audit trail to confirm the details of the claim, or the decision reached. Nor did the landlord have a record of phone calls made by the resident, the report stated.

In this case, the landlord was ordered to pay the resident £1,200 in compensation, comprising of: £450 for the inconvenience, time and trouble caused by failures in the handling of the complaint; and £750 for the distress and inconvenience caused by its delays in the handling of the resident’s report of mould and failings to manage his expectations of the action being taken on his case.

The landlord was also told to set out how it was going to improve from this case and review its record keeping.

The Ombudsman has urged Clarion to “double down” on its efforts to meet the special report’s recommendations, which looked at damp and mould, pest control, complaints handling, compensation and record keeping.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “Our report found key weaknesses in its approach to damp and mould and complaint handling. We set out a series of recommendations to improve these aspects of the landlord’s service.

“The landlord has accepted our recommendations and taken steps to address the issues identified. I would encourage the landlord to double down on its efforts to achieve a positive complaint handling culture, embedding change across what is a large organisation.”

In a learning statement, Clarion said: “These are historic cases dating back to 2020 and 2021 that have been published previously as part of the Housing Ombudsman’s Special Report. We have apologised to the residents, paid compensation, reviewed the cases and have made significant changes to our services. This includes steps to continue to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our complaints handling performance.

“Following a review of the first case, we have taken a number of steps including increasing our monitoring of the progress of complaints and providing further training, including on NHBC warranties."

Clarion added: “Our review of the second case has prompted us to embed a number of improvements, including revising our agreement with the tenant management organisation.

“We have also provided extra support for complex repairs including the allocation of a Resident Liaison Officer (RLO), increased monitoring of the progress of complex repairs, and additional system checks.”