Damage to plastic shed from loose roof tile.

[stu007]

Hi

 

As this is Housing Association you need to make an offical Formal Complaint to them and to make sure and Title your Letter Formal Complaint and follow their Complaints Procedure.

 

Make sure and point out that this is not just the damage to the roof of your shed but is someone had been out in this area at the time this roof tile coming off could have caused serious injury therefore this is also a Health and Safety issue which you require a full inspection of the roof to be carried out as you are seriously concerned that other tiles may come off that roof.

 

I also require the following:

 

1. Clarification when the last roof inspection of this property was carried out and a copy of that report.

2. Copy of your Public Liability Insurance.

3. Copy of your Customer Care Charter/Policy (not the leaflet)

4. Copy of your Repairs and Maintenance Policy (not the leaflet)

5. Copy of your Health and Safety Policy (not the leaflet)

6. Copy of your Complaints Policy (not the leaflet)

 

 

 

If you have Contents Insurance as require by most Housing Association this will generally not cover items outside the property like your shed that is why you need a copy of their public liability insurance and you claim via that and the Housing Association should have been open and accountable and explained this to you but like most Housing Association they like to keep things like this to themselves.

 

You do need to make the point that this is a Health and Safety issue as that roof tile coming off was a danger to to anyone that could have been in that area at the time.

 

 

[stu007]

You are more than welcome.

 

Now the Policies I said to ask for have a wee check of the Housing Associations website to see if they are available to download.

 

When you get these policies make sure you have something to mark it with as you read them i.e. pencil/highlighter and as you read just think to yourself 'DID THEY DO THAT' and if not make sure and mark it this way you can build your case to use their own policies against them.

 

Could you clarify if this Plastic Shed Fixed and can't be moved or not fixed and can be moved to any location? the reason I ask is if the Plastic Shed is Fixed and can't be moved you would have needed the Housing Associations Permission in writing to do this.

 

Importantly make sure and keep a good paper trail of all this if you need to take this further.

 

 

[stu007]

More than welcome please let us know what they say or excuses they come up with to try and get out of fixing/replacing the damaged shed.

 

What you have here is two fold:

 

1. The Damaged Plastic shed which unless they can get a new roof (most unlikely it will need to be fully replaced).

 

2. Health & Safety of that tile coming off there roof that could have caused serious injury if anyone had been in the vicinity when it came off the roof.

 

The Housing Association will more than likely try to ignore the Health & Safety issue and just concentrate on the damage to your shed DO NOT let them do this as it is serious and in any corrospondence with them always point this out and you require that roof fully inspected and the date it was last inspected.

 

As this is Damage to your shed they may also try to just pass this to their Legal Team (if the have one which they more than likely will) if they do always note what the signature is and importantly what it states below the signature i.e. Para Legal as an example. What you then do is you ask for that individuals qualification and there registration number of their registered body so you can confirm this.

 

With above I had this with my own Housing Association different scenario but their roof damage my car in their driveway, passed to legal team and was a Para Legal, asked for the above info the refused until I checked with Para Legal Association to find out they were not a Para Legal nor registered then fount out they were only training to be a Para Legal. I then challenged HA Para Legal and they suddenly backed off, HA panic and damage resolved.

 

With Housing Association never ever trust the Title that an individual may use in your case as an example say they decide to send a 'Housing Inspector' out how do you know its not some fancy title given to them by the housing association.

 

1. Are they an actual Proper Housing Inspector fully qualified  (not just a fancy title given to them by housing association)                       

2. Importantly that they are qualified in this specific area (nothing to stop you asking what there qualifications are and to put it in writing with any trade bodies they are registered with.

 

 

[stu007]

Hi

 

Just thought I would pop in and see how this is going?

 

If other residents are having the same issues the all need to make a Formal Complaint to the Housing Association and title it as such each individually and they all must point out this is a Health & Safety matter with tiles coming off the roofs. 

[stu007]

HI

 

Well they are now in Breach of their own Complaints Procedure with there failure to even acknowledge your Complaint at Stage 1.

How can I make a complaint? - Town & Country Housing

WWW.TCHG.ORG.UK

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Complaints can be made by post by sending in a letter, telephone by calling 01892 501480, e-mail, in person or using our online form

 

So resend your Formal Complaint noting that you previously sent this on XX/XX/2021 and as they have failed to respond nor acknowledge your complaint as a Stage 1 Complaint you now require this Formal Complaint to be treated as a Stage 2 Complaint as per there process I also remind you that irrespective of COVID this complaint is also a serious Health & Safety matter.

 

Do Not Phone Them put it in writing and ensure to get free proof of posting from the post office, if you email make sure they acknowledge but also follow it with a letter referring to your email

 

 

[stu007]

Hi

 

I am afraid I have to disagree with getting with getting an independent assessment and quotes for the different remedial works as this is a Housing Association you should not need to do this at all as you have a 'Right to Repair''. The only difference to this where you may need to do this is for the damage to your plastic shed

 

If you do the above the Housing Association will NOT reimburse any costs as you have not went through them and used your Right to Repair and asked them for there list of contractors and compensation under the Right to Repair.

 

The Housing Association should also have kept you updated on how these repairs works are to be fixed.

 

Now your 3 year repair the tank in the back garden yup use the Right to Repair Scheme against them.

 

The Repairs 2 years till now unless and emergency bear in mind the COVID-19 Restriction were in place and most Housing Association even my own basically closed down due to these restriction to follow Government Guidance and were only carrying out Emergency Repairs only and had difficulty obtaining contractors/spare parts. It is only recently that most are back to normal but with a massive backlog of repairs to catch up on. Due to this the Right to Repair Scheme was suspended during this period.

 

You need to chase up these repairs in writing demanding to know with each one if they come under the Right to Repair and what action they are taking to complete these repairs

Right to Repair Scheme link:

Shelter Legal England - Social housing tenant rights to repair - Shelter England

ENGLAND.SHELTER.ORG.UK

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Secure and introductory local authority tenants can use a specific set of remedies for disrepair and complaint procedures.

 

 

Housing Ombudsman Service link:

Home - Housing Ombudsman

WWW.HOUSING-OMBUDSMAN.ORG.UK

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Improving residents' lives and landlords' services through housing complaints

 

 

[stu007]

It actually is not just up to that limit is the bear minimum which it does not mention.

 

All you do with each of the repairs you have mentioned is ask is each of these are a qualifying repair under the Right to Repair Scheme.

 

If they respond that certain repairs or certain ones are you then have ammunition to use against them as to why they did not tell you that when you reported the repair initially as they are required to do so. (see where I am coming from you use it against them)

 

It is the same as there failure to respond to your complaint about the damage to your shed and the health & safety issue of the tiles falling off the roof that caused that damage and could have seriously injured anyone in that area.

 

IMO you need to approach the damage to your shed and the health & safety aspect of that first and to get the policies I mentioned previously as that will assist you with dealing with the other outstanding repair issues.

[stu007]

Hi

 

At the Top always title your letter 'FORMAL COMPLAINT'.

 

in the Reference; remove complaint stage 2 and insert Formal Complaint raised July 2021 via Online Portal

 

in your very last paragraph add at the end:

 

Due to this it has passed the stage 1 complaint process time limit with no update nor response and should now be treated as a Stage 2 Complaint as per your own Complaints Policy.

 

I also require to know if this Repair is a Qualifying Repair under the Right to Repair Scheme and if so for a copy of that Policy and for a list of your nominated Contractors.

 

I fully understand that COVID-19 has affected all Housing Associations but the Government Restrictions in place did not stop you from updating your service users on what was happening with there repairs nor did it suspend Housing Legislation.

 

 

[stu007]

HI

 

Ah that little lets downgrade it to a Stage 1 Complaint so it looks like wee dealt with it properly if the Regulator looks at our books/files.

 

It's a tactic Housing Association use even my own recently tried that and I refused to let them get away with it.

 

So you respond to the Customer Service Manager NOT BY PHONE unless you can record the call.

 

To Customer Service Manager

 

Following our telephone conversation on XX/XX/2021 reference my Formal  Complaint you informed me that my Complaint was being dealt with as a Stage 1 Complaint.

 

I find this unacceptable as this Complaint was made via T&C online Portal with Acknowledgement receipt from T%C of my Complaint in July 2021 and T&C have now only decided to deal with this after I recently had to Hand Deliver (16th Sept 2021) that Complaint to your Office which is  unacceptable.

 

Therefore T&C have had from July 2021 to resolve this Complaint as per your own Stage 1 Complaint procedure and I quote:

 

Stage 1: Your complaint will be allocated to a member of staff who will contact you within 2 working days to discuss your complaint and understand the problem.

We aim to resolve complaints within 10 working days, but sometimes investigations can take longer. In this case we’ll let you know, keep you updated and agree a timescale for our response with you.

As the above has not been carried out and was only acted upon as previously stated when I hand delivered  my Complaint again on 16th Sept 2021 to your Office this is not a Stage 1 Complaint as T&C have Failed to carryout the above Stage 1 Complaint Procedure since July 2021 therefore my Complaint should be Escalated to a Stage 2 Complaint as per your own Complaints Procedure.

If T%C refuse to escalate this Complaint to Stage 2 I require full Clarification as to why.

 

 

 

 

[stu007]

Hi 

 

Thanks for the update and well done for sticking in there and getting the money for your damaged shed.

 

I agree with Bankfodder you need to keep a written record and photos of everything so you have a good paper trail.

 

As for the Solar Panel situation the important thing you need to bear in mind is irrespective of the actions of swale and the scaffolder they
have been employed by T&C to carryout these repairs so the issues you are having with them the buck stops directly with T&C.

 

Out of interest have T&C actually treated your Formal Complaint as a Stage 2 complaint now and a reason? (reference my post#26 I told you to send them as they were insisted it was Stage 1)

 

I also agree they way you have been treated by T&C is disgraceful as this should have been dealt with from the start of your complaint which they failed to do and only actioned it after you having to keep complaining of their failed actions to a complaint.

 

Keep us updated and if you need any further help with this you know where we are and let other resident know of our Forum.

[stu007]

Hi

 

Your are more than welcome and thanks for the update.

 

Hopefully the solar panels will keep working and keep at Swale for compensation don't let them think fixing the solar panels is the end of it especially the length of time it has taken and don't let them try to use the Pandemic as an excuse either.

 

Please keep us updated as to all this goes and again thanks for letting us know.