Sector watchdog sets out new compensation guidance

They also set out recommended levels of compensation for complaints of different levels of severity to the ombudsman.

This includes advice that tenants should receive more than £1,000 in the worst cases, where severe maladministration with a serious long-term impact on the resident has been found.

The watchdog said the ranges are “guidelines and not prescriptive” and it is important to consider the overall effects of service failures.

It also said the guidance is another step towards a ‘compensation calculator’ for the sector and towards their complaints process being a “genuine alternative” to legal claims.

In a statement today, Richard Blakeway, the housing ombudsman, called for a “single vision of fair compensation shared across the sector”.

He said: “At the heart of compensation is fairness. Individual circumstances will lead to different awards but the core principles driving decision-making should be common.

“Non-financial orders, like apologies, matter greatly too. But fair compensation can go a substantial way towards restoring trust amongst residents and prevent complaints escalating to us.”

The ombudsman has powers to force landlords to offer compensation to residents when it finds there has been maladministration.

Factors that affect whether and how much tenants should get in payouts include whether they have lost money, been unable to use parts of their home or suffered “emotional impact or considerable effort” because of service failings.

A link to the full guidance can be found here. The news comes alongside a severe maladministration report by the ombudsman, based on learnings from cases involving 16 different landlords.

The report gives examples of times when providers did not follow their own compensation policies, increased the amount offered only after complaints were escalated to Stage 2, or where there were “significant differences” between their offer of compensation and that of the watchdog.

The full report can be found here.