Dispute over Housing Association final bill

smashee72

Hi all,
I have been using this site for a while but this is my first post, I would really appreciate some advice on this. I recently moved out of a housing association property . They sent an inspector out when I handed in my notice, who gave me a list of jobs to do before we vacated the property. Myself and my partner checked off the list of jobs, which included making sure all cupboards etc were clean and then handed the keys back in. No problems or so i thought.
Forward 3 months and I get a cleaning bill for nearly £150. They took the liberty of taking £50 from my rent account which was in credit and put it towards this 'invoice.' I wrote a letter saying that I fulfilled my responsibility on the day of vacation, cupboards etc were clean, place had been hoovered throughout etc and that I was not prepared to pay, and asked for my rent credit back. I recieved a letter a few weeks later basically saying tough you owe this money and you need to pay this within 14 days. Then a few days later I recieved a demand for over £750. This was made up of £238 to replace a bedroom door (which was passed as fine on inspection! ) , ..the rest of the invoice was for un-named 'miscelanious repairs'. The doors in those houses cost around £30 from wickes and take around half an hour if that to fit, this is supposed to be a reputable housing association but I feel like they are trying to totally rip me off. My partner and I had over £10,000 in debt when we got together 5 years ago, we are well on the way to repairing our credit ratings and are down to the last £1000. Then this bombshell!
We would be very grateful for any advice on how to fight this!
Thankyou!

jinglebell

What is the name of the housing association?

Let them know you would like to complain. They must have got someone who deals with complaints.

cattie

Was the property checked afer you cleaned it before handing over the keys? You should really have ensured it was, so there could be no comeback afterwards.

The fact that you can buy doors for £30 from Wickes is irrevelent, as everybody knows that the way housing associtations & local authorities work is different to the way the ordinary man in the street does. They tend to order from set supplier's & not shop around for the cheapest items on offer as an individual might. Also, the door in question may be fire retardent or treated with a special fire retardent paint.

Here in London, carpenter's seem to charge around £85-£90 for fitting a door, so it's not exactly a cheap job.

tbs624

The Housing Assoc should have a formal complaints procedure - if you have no info about it from when you first moved in, write recorded delivery to the HA and ask them for a copy of their leaflet and any necessary forms. Keep copies of everything.

If you are not happy with the way the HA handles your complaint you can then take the matter to the Ombudsman but you have to give the HA chance to address the issues via their internal procedures first. If the HA fails to respond in a reasonable time ,however, you you should notify the Ombudsman's office asap.
See https://www.ihos.org.uk. If necessary you can proceed to court or alternative dispute resolution.

smashee72

Thanks for that . It is Loreburn Housing Association, and I didn't ththink to get a final check done as I was so busy getting my new house organised. Hindsight is a great thing, but I honestly didnt believe I would have any problems as I had an inspection a week or two before I moved out which went very well, and for as long as I had the property there was always a good tenant / landlord relationship. So maybe advice for other people moving out of properties would be to have an inspection on the day of moving out and get everything signed off, unfortunately alot of councils/associations do not work in that way ... Im going in to see them on thursday so will get the info on complaints then, I imagine it is going to be a long haul. I would have no idea how to take them to court but am prepared to fight all the way on this. Many thanks and if anyone has any further advice I'd be very grateful

tbs624

As you're in Scotland, rather than E/W, the relevant body is the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, https://www.spso.org.uk

If you check the HA's own website they should have a copy of their complaints policy and/or a form to download. Have you checked Shelter Scotland's webpages for advice on dealing with HAs?

smashee72

I went into the HA yesterday to ak the housing officer for a detailed invoice (parts and labour etc) as I pointed out that over £400 was under the heading 'miscellanious items' She said she would do her best to get that out to me out to me, but she couldnt promise copies of the original contract firms invoices. If they cannot produce these, am I within my right to withold payment as theoretically there is no proof of work being done?