Compensation policy

2. Scope

► The policy relates to any customer of B3Living who is making a claim for compensation or seeking financial redress in recognition of service levels outside of our Service Standards, policies and/or customer ethos.

► The policy does not directly relate to customer complaints, as customers seeking compensation do not need to make a complaint to make a claim, however compensation may be awarded as part of a response to a formal complaint.

► For the purpose of this policy, the term “compensation payment” relates to any payment offered to a customer due to loss of room/utility space, or loss of personal belongings or furniture; supported by evidence of liability and/or handled through B3Living’s insurance providers and loss adjusters.

► The policy gives guidance on ex-gratia payments given to customers who have experienced a service failure and/or who have made a formal complaint and an offer of financial redress is made as part of the resolution. Such payment offers are referred to as “goodwill payments”, “gestures of goodwill” and “recognition payments” within this policy

3. Aims and objectives

The policy aims are as follows:

• to provide a good customer service, by recognising that there are times when customers should be compensated for poor service, or personal loss where B3Living are at fault
• to comply with legislation, regulatory requirements and best practice
• to provide clear guidance for staff and customers on the circumstances where compensation, goodwill gestures or recognition payments may be paid

4. Policy statement 

4.1.1 B3Living aims to provide a good standard of service for its customers in line with our customer ethos, service standards and policies. We recognise that occasionally things can go wrong and on certain occasions it may be appropriate to pay customers compensation for loss or damage incurred, or as a gesture of goodwill for poor service.

4.1.2 Customers are expected to take out their own contents insurance for their personal belongings. Should damage or theft of a customer’s furniture or personal belongings occur, they are expected to make a claim on their own insurance.

4.1.3 Compensation will only be paid for damage or theft of a customer’s furniture or personal belongings in exceptional circumstances, generally where there is evidence that B3Living has been negligent, and the damage or theft has occurred because of this.

4.1.4 Compensation, goodwill / recognition payments should only be paid to a customer if they have a clear rent account. If not, the amount (or part) should be credited to their rent account to clear the arrears. There may be exceptional cases where this is not appropriate action to take, regardless of current arrears levels – see section 5.8.6-5.6.8 for details. This decision will be at the discretion of the investigating officer or responsible manager, based on the circumstances of the individual or case.

4.1.5 In cases where compensation is awarded as part of a resolution directed by the Housing Ombudsman Service, or we are legally obliged to make a payment, such as a statutory home loss or disturbance payments, or where our maladministration has caused the arrears, or the customer has incurred out of pocket expenses as a result of the issue, all payments will be awarded directly.

4.1.6 Compensation, goodwill/recognition payments may be paid in the following situations:

• accidental damage to a customer’s belongings or furniture directly caused by B3Living staff or contractors
• loss of use of rooms or amenities for longer than 24 hours
• where a customer’s electricity has been used excessively to carry out works
• where a customer has to move out of their home due to major repairs
• goodwill gestures may be offered for justified complaints where significant loss, including ‘time and trouble’ has been incurred or on Ombudsman recommendations a payment should be made
• where B3Living has failed to carry out certain repairs in a timely manner, without reasonable justification
• certain missed appointments detailed in 7.7 below
• severe inconvenience due to lack of service, depending on the circumstances, based on impact and time taken to resolve the issue
• other qualifying situations where compensation may be offered, as agreed at senior manager or director level

5. Policy guidance

The following is for guidance only. The member of staff dealing with the compensation request will need to consider the merits and circumstances of each case and exercise discretion where appropriate.

5.1 Loss of use of rooms

5.1.1 B3Living may pay compensation when customers are unable to use one or more rooms in their home for 24 hours or more (or at least overnight) without notice, except when during planned major works. This will depend on the circumstances in each case and will only apply where B3Living is at fault. No compensation will be paid for loss of rooms when B3Living provides alternative accommodation.

5.1.2 Generally, these payments will not exceed the following amounts:

• Kitchen: 25% of the full rent for the period
  Toilet: 50% of the full rent for the period, unless there is another toilet in the home
• Bathroom washing facilities: 25% reduction of the full rent for the period
• Living room: 10% reduction of the full rent for the period
• Bedroom: 20% reduction of the full rent for the period. If the property is under-occupied and no person is using the room or there is another room available, no compensation will be payable.

5.2 Accidental damage to customer’s belongings

5.2.1 Where accidental damage occurs to a customer’s belongings as a direct result of action by B3Living’s staff or agents, we may advise that the customer should claim through their own home contents insurance in the first instance.

5.2.2 Where the customer has not got their own insurance, or cannot claim on their own policy, the investigating officer will review each case on its circumstances.

5.3 Where a customer’s electricity has been used excessively to carry out works

5.3.1 A customer will be entitled to compensation if their electricity supply has been excessively used for carrying out repair or improvement works, such as drying out using industrial heaters or dehumidifiers.

5.3.2 Reimbursement for additional electricity usage may also be considered if electric heaters are provided during a period when the heating installation has failed.

5.3.3 Documentary proof of an increase in expenditure would be required to make a payment in these circumstances, although capped at notional usage rates for such appliances over the period in question. Extra utility cost financial payments are calculated using the following formula:

Current Electricity Rate (p/kWh) X Power Rating of the appliance (KW) X Number of hours the appliance is used (outside of reasonable timescales). In calculating these payments, the number of hours an appliance is in use per day has been capped at 12.

5.4 Where a customer has to move due to major repairs

5.4.1 In some exceptional circumstances, customers may have to move temporarily to enable improvements or major repairs to be carried out. In such cases, the customer will be entitled to receive a disturbance allowance to cover the reasonable costs incurred in moving (these would normally cover the cost of removal of furniture and belongings, and connection/reconnection of utility services). As a rule, the customer decanting will only be charged rent on one property, and this will be the lower rent of the two. There will be no break in the original tenancy. Please see our Home Loss and Disturbance Policy for details.

5.5 Severe inconvenience due to lack of service

5.5.1 If B3Living fails to provide a service for which a customer is charged a service charge for a continuous period of 7 days, and this has caused severe inconvenience, e.g., having to use a launderette because communal washing machines are broken, or lifts are not working, the payment of compensation will be considered. Such payments will be at the discretion of the relevant Manager, based on the severity of the inconvenience. Usually, the payment would take the form of refunding the service charge for the period that the service was unavailable.

5.6 Failure to carry out certain repairs

5.6.1 The Right to Repair regulations (1994) give certain rights to secure customers of local housing authorities relating to repairs to their home which their landlords are obliged to carry out. The regulations contain a list of qualifying repairs and sets out the timescales for completing these. Customers may be able to claim compensation if these requirements are not fulfilled. The Right to Repair covers B3Living customers who transferred from Broxbourne Borough Council or Haringey Council as part of the 2006 and 2013 stock transfers.

5.7 Missed appointments

5.7.1 For select appointments we may pay customers a one-off standard £30 recognition payment where we have failed to attend an appointment without reasonable attempts to notify the Customer in advance of the appointment.

5.7.2 The appointments which qualify for this recognition payment are:

• appointments relating to Emergency or Out of Hours category jobs
• appointments relating to gas service / safety checks, where there has been more than one incident of a missed appointment by our gas contractor

5.7.3 The £30 recognition payment is made in recognition of any distress or inconvenience caused by this service failure. B3Living does not compensate for loss of earnings, therefore no further payments will be considered in relation to missed appointments.

5.8 Compensation for justified complaints

5.8.1 From time to time, it may be necessary to offer a goodwill gesture as part of the resolution of a formal complaint. Such payments are at B3Living’s discretion depending upon the circumstances of the complaint.

5.8.2 As a rule, if no evidence of loss or damage to a customers’ personal belongings is evident, but the customer is asking for compensation due to poor service as part of the resolution of their complaint, the investigating officer will assess the request based on the length of time the customer experienced poor service and the impact this had on them. See section 6.8.5 for further details.

5.8.3 Gestures of goodwill are to recognise poor service where this is felt appropriate to resolve a complaint, not to compensate for loss. B3Living will not offer this type of financial redress for claims of stress, which is a medical condition that should be dealt with via an insurance claim.

5.8.4 These payments can be considered either as part of the resolution of a formal complaint, or outside of the formal complaints process. The length of time the customer experienced service failure and the impact this had on them will be considered when deciding the amount to award. Payments can be awarded up to a maximum of £100 per service failure and are at the discretion of the investigating officer.

5.8.5 The following matrix is a guide for staff on the amount to offer customers if they are asking for compensation because they experienced service failure from B3Living or our contractors:

5.8.6 Where a financial payment is paid to a customer this will usually be by cheque or BACS. Should a customer have money owing to us these payments can be paid directly onto the rent account to offset arrears – unless the payment has been awarded as the result of a complaint resolution directed from the Housing Ombudsman Service.

5.8.7 As per 2022 guidelines from the Housing ombudsman Service - It is the Housing Ombudsman’s position that compensation awarded by this Service should be treated separately from any existing financial arrangements between the landlord and customer and should not be offset against arrears.

5.8.8 This applies regardless of whether the landlord’s compensation policy allows it to do this, and it is particularly the case where:

• the arrears are in dispute
• the arrears are the subject of the complaint
• the landlord is legally obliged to make the payment, such as a statutory Home Loss or Disturbance payment
• it would not be fair to do so – for example where a landlord’s maladministration resulted in the arrears in the first place
• the Customer has incurred additional ‘out of pocket’ expenses as a direct result of the landlord’s actions or inactions – for example where a property requires major repairs to make it habitable and the resident incurred out of pocket expenses by having to pay for hotel accommodation as a direct result of a landlord not arranging the works needed or not offering them alternative accommodation whilst works were done

5.8.9 Good will gestures/recognition payments are only considered where practical actions alone are not able to restore a customer to the position they were in prior to a service failure.

5.8.10 This type of compensation is not always financial and, in many instances, may be awarded as a gesture such as:

• personal visit to apologise
• flowers
• vouchers
• letter/ card of apology

6. Equality, diversity and inclusion

An Equality Impact Assessment (Part 1) has been completed. This policy includes appropriate mitigations to ensure we consider the individual needs of customers when applying this policy.

7. Data protection and information security

Investigating the appropriate level of compensation to award Customers can involve the processing of our customers’ personal data. A Data Processing Impact Assessment has been completed and the residual risk level is low.

8. Customer voice

As an internal guide for issuing compensation, governed by guidelines from regulatory and statutory bodies, this policy has not been subject to customer consultation.

9. Compliance

The following legislation was considered in the setting of this policy:

• Housing Act 1985
• Equality Act 2010
• The “right to Repair” regulations 1994
• The NHF Code of Governance 2020 provisions related to “Resident Focus”, “Accountability”, and “Functions of the Board”
• Tenant Engagement and Empowerment Standard 2017 issued by the Regulator of Social Housing
• The charter for social housing residents: social housing white paper
• NHF “Together with Tenants” Charter

10. Linked policies, procedures, and guidance

• Housing Ombudsman code of conduct
• Compensation guidance
• NHF Code of Governance 2020
• Tenant Engagement and Empowerment Consumer Standard 2017 issued by the RSH
• The Housing Green Paper “A New Deal for Social Housing”
• NHF “Together with Tenants” Charter

11. Responsibilities

11.1.1 All compensation, goodwill/recognition payments must be recorded internally using B3Living’s Compensation form, which must be signed by a manager. If the proposed payment exceeds £1,000, the form must be signed by a member of the Executive team.

11.1.2 The Chief Executive has overall responsibility for this policy.

11.1.3 The Executive team is responsible for authorising payments over £1,000. The Leadership Team is responsible for authorising individual payments and reviewing overall payments

11.1.4 The Customer Insight Manager is responsible for reporting total compensation paid to the Board as part of ongoing complaints reporting.

11.1.5 Other staff – all B3Living staff have the responsibility for receiving claims for compensation, ensuring that they are processed efficiently and paid appropriately.

11.1.6 The Board have overall responsibility for monitoring compliance with this policy

12. Performance monitoring

Formal complaints, which is the most common mechanism by which compensation will be investigated and awarded, forms part of our key performance indicators and Customer Experience report, which is monitored by the Board quarterly. Insurance claims are also recorded and monitored via the Audit and Risk Committee.