CROYDON CHURCHES HOUSING ASSOCIATION

Compensation Policy

Policy Name: / Compensation Policy
Lead Officer: Kristian Melgaard / Director of Operations
Date of Issue: / September 2012

Introduction

Croydon Churches recognises that the way it handles a failure in service will affect the quality of the future relationship with its customers. CCHA will use its discretion to resolve any failures with a compensation payment or apology where it seems an appropriate response and is also an acceptable solution for the customer.

A compensation claim may arise where a mistake, omission or poor service adversely affects a customer or group of customers as in the following situations:

·  Unreasonable delay in providing a service

·  Missed appointments without giving 24 hours notice

·  Loss of amenities such as heating or hot water

·  Damage to a tenant’s property

·  Failure to provide a service to a published standard

·  Failure to follow our policies, procedures or guidelines

·  Unfair discrimination against a customer

·  Failure to tell customers about their rights or entitlements

·  Inaccurate or misleading advice to a customer

Compensation will not be paid for the following:

·  The fault of a third party i.e. energy supplier

·  Those covered by our insurance

·  Those subject to legal proceedings

·  Circumstances beyond our control such as severe weather

·  Where payments are made for a decant – see Decant policy

Where the Association has acted reasonably and complied with its statutory and contractual responsibilities.

·  When contractors cannot gain access to a tenant’s home to carry out necessary works.

·  When the tenant has not reported the loss or damage in a timely manner and has not retained damaged items claimed for inspection

·  Where the loss or damage occurred as a result of unauthorised alterations to the property carried out by the tenant

·  Loss of earnings

Insurance

Where damage to goods or personal injury has occurred due to alleged negligence on behalf of CCHA, the customer can submit a claim to our insurers. Where claim is received the Director or Operations can provide assistance on how to process it.

Fixed compensation awards

CCHA has a designated range of fixed compensation awards where our services have failed to meet the required standard. Any payment that is made should meet the criteria set out below.

Type of Services / Fixed Compensation Award
Missed pre-arranged office or contractor appointments without giving 24 hours notice / £10
Late completion of emergency or urgent
Repairs / £10
Late response to customers letters outside the agreed timescale / £10
Late response to a formal complaint
response outside the agreed timescale / £10

Discretionary and goodwill gestures

CCHA may offer a discretionary or goodwill gesture following a service failure or complaint. This could be in the form of high street vouchers or a bouquet of flowers up to the value of £50. This is more personal than a monetary payment and may help to restore faith and confidence in the organisation. If the goodwill or discretionary payment offered is above £50 approval will be required from the budget holder as below.

Payment Amount / Goodwill / Discretionary / Complaint level
Up to £50 / Manager / Informal / first time fix
Up to £250 / Operations Manager / Stage 1
Up to £500 / Director of Operations / Stage 2
Over £500 / Chief Executive / Above stage 2

Failure to deliver services

Compensation can be offered to customers where a service supplied and paid for by a service charge is not of an acceptable standard. Payments made under this section may be up to, but not exceeding the cost of the providing the service in question.

Where a service is not provided for more than 14 days then a rebate of that charge will be credited to the tenant’s rent account or to the organisation paying the rent equivalent or the amount payable under the service charge. This adjustment will be made within 28 days of the service being resumed.

Right to repair

The right to repair scheme gives tenants the right to claim compensation if certain small urgent repairs are not carried out within a certain time limit. Disrepair obligations and payments are set out within CCHA’s Right to Repair Policy.

How Compensation is Determined

Where individual rooms become uninhabitable due to a repair problem that is CCHA’s responsibility a reduction in rent will be calculated based on the following:

No useable toilet (where there is only one in the home) / 50% of rent beyond published repair response times
A complete loss of cold water supply
A complete loss of electricity supply
A complete loss of heating (31st Oct – 1st May) where no temporary alternative heating is provided
No hot water / 20% of rent beyond published repair response times
Kitchen out of use
Bathroom out of use
Living room out of use
Bedroom out of use

If heating breaks down during cold weather CCHA will offer to provide temporary electric heating and will pay a contribution towards extra electricity costs at a rate of £1.50 per day.

Deciding the amount

When considering how much compensation to offer in recognition of loss or inconvenience it is important to take the following factors into account:

·  Distress or inconvenience suffered

·  Any known costs that have been reasonably incurred

·  The degree of disruption to the household

·  Consideration of vulnerabilities, including age or disability

·  Recognition of any failure to follow policy or procedure

·  Assessment whether the loss or inconvenience could be redressed in any other manner

As well as monetary compensation its worth remembering the value of an apology as a way to restore a customers faith and confidence in the organisation. When it is clear CCHA is at fault an apology should always be given.

Payment

Once a settlement is agreed it will be paid within ten working days.

If a resident owes us rent and the arrears are not due to be paid by Housing Benefit, CCHA will always credit any compensation to the rent account. When compensation is offered, the offer is open for 4 months only.

Any payments Croydon Churches makes under the Compensation Policy will be in full and final settlement of the issue. This means the customer is accepting that the matter is resolved by accepting the compensation payment and will take no further action. The date and amount of payment should be submitted to the Complaints administrator to be recorded.

How to make a claim

Customers can make a claim for compensation over the telephone, by e-mail or in person giving as much detail as possible, including dates, times, photographs and evidence of any money spent. Damaged items should be retained as evidence. The process should be clear and accessible and CCHA staff should ensure that they provide reasonable adjustments to ensure that any known barriers to making a claim resulting from disability, language or communication need are overcome. Claims for compensation must be received within 15 working days.

The compensation claim will be passed to the operations manager responsible for the area relevant to the claim; i.e. a repair claim will be passed to the operations manager for property services. The operations manager will acknowledge the claim within 2 working days and provide a response within 10 working days.

Appeals

If the claim is unsuccessful the customer can appeal by making a complaint in line with CCHA’s complaints procedure. Where the compensation claim is already a part of a stage 1 complaint the customer can appeal by requesting to escalate to the next stage.

Version History 1.1
Lead Officer: Kristian Melgaard / Director of Operations
Author: Nicola Bamforth / Performance Improvement Manager
Equality Impact Assessment Completed / September 2012 / Ref:
Resident Consultation Completed / October 2012 / Ref: RC23
Date of Issue: / June 2013
Colleague consultation / Operations and Middle Managers
Director of Corporate Services
Director of Operations
Performance Improvement Co-ordinator
Policies and procedures replaced / Compensation Policy 2008 - 2010

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