Monday, November 4, 2024
£1300 compensation
Resolved by: proposed decision
The complainant said:
· there was an ongoing leak coming through the ceiling from the roof which the managing agent had been aware of for some time
• the managing agent refused to act, did not respond to emails or voicemails and insisted the complainant pay to investigate the problem
The agent responded saying:
· they accept there were leaks in the past but on this occasion, every attempt to repair the leak was unsuccessful
• admitted to not responding to the complainant’s communications in a reasonable time
• they made a concerted effort to chase contractors to assess the situation and provide written reports
• their contractor was adamant that the balcony should be investigated first, which is the complainant’s responsibility, to rule it out as the cause of the leak
Email correspondence, invoices and photographs
• The leak was first reported in November and was still unresolved nine months later
• The agent was aware of previous leaks in the property coming from the roof and should have taken prompt action to revisit this as a potential cause first
• The complainant had to agree to pay for investigating the balcony as this was their only option of resolving the leak issue
• It was unreasonable of the agent to expect the complainant to pay for investigating the balcony first without considering that a previous problem could be the likely cause which may have minimised any additional costs to the complainant the contractors report found no water or leak coming from the balcony and the subsequent delay to resolving the issue was unreasonable
• The agent had fallen short of his duty of care and was found responsible for:
- a contribution towards the redecoration costs for the damaged areas
- a partial refund of the cost spent for investigating the balcony
- compensation for the delay, stress and inconvenience
An agent must consider if the complaint relates to the level or service provided by an agent and should always be dealt with in a reasonable time
- An agent, as the professional, has a duty of care to a leaseholder and should approach any issue in the most appropriate way to minimise loss to complainant who has reported it as soon as they became aware of it
• Under the RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code of Practice, Managing Agents should:
- deal promptly with any reports of disrepair which are the landlord’s responsibility
- keep the leaseholders informed of the proposed actions to remedy the defect and the target timescales for works
- where necessary make appointments for contractors to attend and put controls in place to make sure any work has been completed to an acceptable standard before authorising payment
The RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code of Practice can be found here.
