No heating for 5 weeks, Housing association ****Resolved****

[rainnights]

Please HELP... I am freezing to death!!!

5 weeks ago my boiler broke down and ever since I called the housing association numerous times and every time I am told that I have to give them 24 hours to attend to it. I had 9 ''Engineers'' parading in my house in this time but no one seems to be able to fix the problem, no explination and still no heating. I am at witts end and frozen beyond joke.I have also e-mailed them to complain a week ago and all I got back is that Gas Team will have a look at my complain and will get back to me.I know that I have to give them 28 day to answer, however I am afraid that I will be frozen to death in this time.The Company hired by the Asssociation to do repairs supply me with an electric fan as ''temporary'' heating 3 weeks ago that eats up electricity like for the national bank..he..he..my brain must be frozen too ..What can I do????

[Conniff]

Welcome - any children involved ?

[rainnights]

Thank you and No..no kids but my husband is over 60, the house was advertised as over 55 only, and some medical problems ( not disable) but vulnerable since he had a stroke few years back...he just measured temp in the bathroom..just like outside 11 degrees.

[Conniff]

Personally what I would do would be to ring them, give them 48 hours to come and fix it or you will get a plumber to do it and take the charge out of the rent.

 

Do that by email as well if you can.

[mariner51]

Give HA last chance to fix or repair before further action then involve local EHO.

If you do as Conniff suggests (repair or replace at own cost) you should advice themin advance that this is what you wil do and will deduct total cost from future rent. Do not stop paying rent entirely.

Edited December 10, 2011 by mariner51

[rainnights]

I sugested that one week ago but told that they will not advise me to do this..I can honestly say that I have tried everything in the book and nothing works.It is sooo frustrating and customer care people there sound like robots.I am starting to freak out already when someone appologise and blame someone else.Promised this morning again that somebody will came later on to take care of the problem.

[stu007]

Hi

 

This is a disgraceful attitude of your Housing Association and now requires urgently recified by them.

 

You need to make a 'Formal Complaint' to the Housing Association in writing or email it but keep a copy.

 

1. Ask for a copy of there Complaints Procedure.

2. Ask for a copy of there Repairs Procedure/Policy.

3. Ask for a copy of the 'Right to Repair' Procedure/Policy.

4. Explain so far 9 Engineers have tried and failed to rectify this issue therefore you have lost trust in there contractor and reasonably request that an independant expert now looks at this issue since your contractor seems incapable of repairing this fault.

5. As you have been provided with temprorary heating (Electric Fan Heater) which is expensive to run you wish to be compensated for the electricity costs.

6. Why has the Housing Association and its Contractor failed in over 5 weeks to rectify this issue and how much longer is it going to be before this issue is actually rectified.

 

Once you start there complaints procedure if its still not resolved you then got to the Public Services Ombusman.

 

Which Housing Association is this?

 

This may help as well

Edited December 10, 2011 by stu007

[rainnights]

Hi and sorry for the late replay.

It is Bromford, and sorry if I did not mentioned I did e-mailed them my complain, they send me an automated message that the Gas Team will look at it and they will get back to me.Any way, the big no 10 of engineers manage to fix it even so they told me is temporary and they will get back ( again) to do some more work.The policy''Right to Repair '' that they have in place stipulates that you will be reimbursed for work done at the end of tenancy...he..he..means never. So far..I am happy..house is nice and warm and still awaiting for replay on my complaint.

Thank you,

[rainnights]

Me again with update....not received anything else about my complain..called them again on the 23 of december and been promised a call back once they can find out what happened...still waiting..heating is working now but water is luke warm.Checked the website again and found out that they are all on vacation until January the 3..ha..ha lucky me.

By now I am so upset about the whole story that I DEMANDING Justice.

[rebel11]

Hi rain

 

Clearly the Housing Association believe they can do what they like with total disregard for their tenants.

 

Write a letter of complaint, send it Recorded, give them dates and all the details :- Complain http://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/

 

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/complaints_and_legal_action/complaints/complaints_about_housing_associations

[jackieandwayne]

You carry on with your complaint, they are not allowed to leave an OAp (hubby) without heating, and if they have to provide another form then they must compensate you for any difference in running costs. Google them, find out who is the Director, Chief Bod etc., and write to him directly with your complaint, and how you wish to have it resolved. Mark your envelope private and confidential, and send it trackable. You could send a copy to your MP or local councillor just for good measure, and why not let Age Concern have a copy too whilst at it? It never, ever hurts to show these conglomerates the error of their ways.

 

Of course, it is up to you and hubby to decide how much you have suffered healthwise because of this, but the severe cold can;t have helped your health, and all the stress, whilst feeling so cold, and now worrying about the extra money to use thier appliances to heat your home will have piled on the stress won't it? Hell, a set to like this for 5 weeks could cause you problems for the rest of your life!

 

Good luck, go get some dosh out of them!

[rainnights]

Update. Well there are none!!!

I have called them again 2 days before Christmas, spoke to the Gas team thatwhere suppose to ‘’have a look at my complain'' and they new nothing aboutit....I was promise a call back after they find out what is happening and sofar heard nothing. Since the person who did the ''repair'' said that wastemporary I was trying to clarify the matter but no luck. On a different note,Lucky the weather is nice and warm and I have time to fiddle with the boilerwhen I want to take a shower since I have to switch the heater off in order forthe water to be right for shower. Soooo...annoying

I will give them another week to sort it out then go complaining somwhere else..amd I HATE complainig..but they live me no choice.

Thank you for the advice.

[Conniff]

I think I mentioned before rainnights, send them a letter recorded giving them 7 days to fix it or you will get a plumber in yourself and bill them.

 

Do it, if they refused to pay your plumber, I think because of their attitude and the grossly excessive period, you would have no problem winning a claim.

 

You're obviously 'not' making enough fuss, ring them every day, twice a day, just keep on their backs.

[stu007]

Hi Rainnights

 

Did you actually do what i suggested in Post 7 if so do another complaint and head it 'FORMAL COMPLAINT PERSONAL FOR CHIEF EXECUTIVE(EVEN BETTER IF YOU KNOW HIS NAME)'.

 

Who did you actually address the complaint letter to initially that they are denying recieving?

 

Remember to keep copies of every letter you send and recieve from them and enclose a copy of your initial complaint to them.

[rainnights]

Hi,

I did all the above..I must be the most lucky person on this world...I NEVER got any replays and once more, boiler is broken..well the water pump according to the last Engineer that visited us on friday..need to order a new one but Monday and we will get it...when ever. So fed up...I MENTIONED seeking legal advice but they are not worried. Wrote to their facebook page, they asked for a private message with my name,adress...etc. I have send one back with a note that if they are calling to appologise and advice me to waitt not to bother to phone me unless they can put this right. he,...he..they never did. It is so frustrating..I moved in this house 10 month ago and the whole cold season i had problems with heating and hot water. What do I do next..hubby worry that if we make to much fuss with reporting further we will loose the house. Apart from heating I love this house and we spent every penny we had in to home improving and decorating.

[rebel11]

Hi rains

 

Hi rain

 

Have you done this?

 

Write a letter of complaint, send it Recorded, give them dates and all the details :- Complain http://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/

[rainnights]

Hi rebel,

 

I wrote the complain which I intend to send first thing Monday morning as this was my last choice...still wandering tho if they can evict me after...

[rainnights]

Morning all,

 

Yay... I have hot water and the house is nice and warm.After I have tried all the nice ways and no one listen I lost my marbles and became all hysterical on the phone and shouted that I have lost my will to live .. he..he..they manage to find all the pieces and it was all fixed in less then 24 h.

Phoned the Ombudsman too but things there move soooo slow

Any way thank's for helping and more thank's for ''listening''

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

I'm pleased for you, being without heating and hot water is awful. It's a shame you had to rant to get the job done. Thank you for letting us know.

 

My best, HB

[stu007]

Hi Rainnights

 

Thats great news that its fixed eventually but you still should not have had to go through all these loopholes and who is to say its not going to happen again.

 

I would stiil right another Letter of 'Formal Complaint' requesting that your initial complaint is now escalated to Senior Management as you have nothing in writing that assures you that this situation will not happen again and that you rquire to be reimbursed for the electricity cost of the temporary fan heaters that were supplied.

 

Also request a copy of their "COMPENSATION POLICY" you will be very interested in what it says.

 

Here is the interesting part:

 

5. WHEN IS COMPENSATION PAYABLE

 

5.1 CONTRACTUAL COMPENSATION AWARDS

 

5.1.1 Housing Corporation circular 33/94 introduced the requirement for the following contractual rights to be given to Housing Association customers i.e. all Assured, Assured Shorthold and Secure rented customersand licences. For clarity this compensation is not available to Homeowners receiving a service from the Group or a managing agent.

 

5.2 The Right to Repair

 

5.2.1 If an Association does not carry out a repair within a specified time the customer may be entitled to compensation if:

 

• The repair is an emergency (24 hours) or urgent (5 working days) priority.

• The repair is a qualifying repair i.e. it is likely to affect the health or safety and security of you, the public or property.

• The repair is not a defect to a new home that the developer is responsible for rectifying within the defect liability period.

 

5.2.2 When a customer reports an emergency or urgent qualifying repair the Association will state who will do the repair (i.e. which contractor) and when it should be completed. If a repair is not carried out within time the customer must let the Association know and a new time limit will be agreed. The new time limit must be equal to or less than, the original time scale given.

 

5.2.3 If a repair is not completed within the second time limit the customer should be paid compensation as follows;

 

• A ‘one off’ compensation payment of £10, plus £2 for each day the repair remains outstanding, up to a maximum of £50.

 

5.2.4 Compensation will not be paid if:

 

• The customer has failed to give access to the Association for the work to be inspected or carried out.

 

• Contractors have had to order spare parts and the customer has been kept informed.

 

• A variation to the original works order is necessary, which changes the repair priority.

 

5.2.5 If the delay in carrying out the repair is due to the contractor, the Association will liaise with the contractor to obtain reimbursement of the amount paid to the customer.

Edited January 30, 2012 by stu007

[rainnights]

Morning,

 

Thank you all!!

Second letter of complaint left 3 min after I had my rant on the phone.I will waitt for the resolution of this one first, ( also called the ombudsman, explained the story and got a ref no) and yes I do intend to ask for compensation for my electricity bill once I have it.To be honest I am kind of ashamed about the choice of words used on the phone, but not beeing able to wash made me loose my marbles :)

£ 50.00 will not be near to what they should pay but it is a matter of principle now. I do not see why I have to humiliate myself and beg for something that was easy to fix ( it was the water pump) just because the so called ''engineers'' have no clue what they are doing and the smart people that answer the phone could not care less. I have seen the grand total of 13 ''engineers'' in 2 month :)...felt like I was living in the raillway station, with so many of them marching in and out without sorting anything.Still shocked how fast they fixed everything after my last call..they even called me 5 times in less then 24 h to keep me informed..ha..haso they can do a decent job if they want too..

I will let you know when they answer my complain and thank's again

[stu007]

Hi rainnights

 

Also remember since it was a total of 13 engineers before the issue was finally resolved 2 months later SHOCKING!!!!!

 

This now raises the question of the COMPETANCE of the contractor that the Housing Association is using for these types of repairs.

[rainnights]

Well ..I do remember all of them and still waiting for someone to write tome. So far allot of them called to see if everything is OK and I have heatingand hot water now..he..he.. But I have received nothing in writing.

I did questioned the competency of the contractors and frankly I am kind of embarrassedabout the choice of language I used last time I called them

[stu007]

Hi rainnights

 

Right I think its time to up the stakes with this lot.

 

They are now in Breach of their own "Complaints Policy" approved on 20th Aug 2010, as stated in that policy "We aim to resolve their Complaint within 14 days or a mutually agreed timescale".

 

* They have failed to respond or at the least acknowledge your complaint within 14 days. (Remember their policy does not state "working days" but "14 Days" if they try to use that one just bounce it straight back at them pointing out that their own Complaints Policy does not state "Working Days" but "Within 14 Days").

* They have failed to agree a mutual timescale.

* They have failed to respond to your complaint.

 

Due to this action I now request that my Complaint is Formally dealt with as a "STAGE 3" Complaint Only.

 

Only a suggestion as the descision is yours.

Edited February 27, 2012 by stu007

[rainnights]

Thank you again but since my life is a bit hectic at the moment I will give them a bit more time...I know I should press them But I do have some things to sort that take priority over this.