Severe Maladministration finding against Longhurst Group
16 October 2024
The Housing Ombudsman has publicised a finding of severe maladministration against Longhurst Group within a report focused on cases of damp and mould, which featured 19 other housing associations.
It relates to the way we dealt with issues of damp and mould at our customer’s home, and how we handled their subsequent complaint.
In response to this finding, the Group provided the Housing Ombudsman with a statement that summarises what we got wrong, what we’ve learned and the action we’re taking to make improvements.
The actions we’ve taken
Since this complaint was first reported to us in September 2021, we’ve made significant changes to our processes and procedures, as well as to the structures of key operational teams.
All work has now been completed, this includes replacing guttering and additional mould treatments, and we carried out a full investigation to check the quality of work.
As a further precaution, we’ve arranged for our contractor to return to the property once a month for the next six months to ensure the damp and mould hasn’t returned. We’re also doing further work improve energy efficiency at the home to help eliminate the risk of damp and mould issues reoccurring.
We’ve developed a clear damp and mould process to ensure all cases are captured, recorded and monitored through to work being completed to the customer’s satisfaction.
A comprehensive policy for Damp and Mould has been created and cascaded across all teams. Colleagues are also required to complete related training.
We’ve completely reviewed our complaints process to ensure that all complaints are dealt with in a timely manner and clear ownership is in place. We’ve also introduced additional quality assurance and our customers have been involved in reviewing this new process.
Clearly, we’re very disappointed with the standard of service experienced by our customer and we fully acknowledge that we didn’t respond in a timely manner or in line with our procedures.
Our response
As part of their publication of this finding, the Housing Ombudsman asked us to submit a 100-word learning response. The statement we provided is as follows:
“We’re very sorry for the experience our customer received and acknowledge that we took too long to resolve this matter.
“We missed opportunities to diagnose and solve the problem sooner but have since replaced guttering and completed mould treatments. While this work was carried out we provided suitable alternative accommodation for the family.
“Our contractor will continue to visit the property once a month for the next six months to ensure the problem doesn’t return.
“We’ve made significant improvements since this issue was first raised in 2021. We’ve introduced a new damp and mould policy and comprehensive training and changed how we manage and prioritise complaints to ensure customers receive a satisfactory resolution more quickly.”