Compensation policy

We recognise the impact on you if our service level drops below agreed standards. We aim to be fair to any customer who incurs financial loss or inconvenience due to a failure in service.

In summary we consider compensation when:

there’s been a failure of service for which residents pay a service charge; eg grounds maintenance
costs are borne by the resident because of failure of service; eg bank charges caused by our error
an Affinity Sutton employee or contractor has failed to keep an appointment without giving 24 hours notice; £10 per missed appointment
residents are inconvenienced; compensation won’t be automatic but we will take into account the extent and impact of inconvenience and offer a goodwill payment accordingly
there’s a loss of facility; eg use of a room because repairs haven’t been completed on time
personal possessions have been damaged by us or one of our contractors.

In addition we comply with ‘The Secure Tenants of Local Housing Authorities (Right to Repair) Regulations 1994. As a registered social landlord we are required to extend the same service to assured tenants.

This means that you have the right to claim compensation if qualifying emergency and urgent repairs are not carried out within prescribed timescales. We’ve extended this to include our routine repairs; so any repair which is our responsibility and exceeds its deadline (unless work has been delayed because of unforeseen circumstances and we’ve kept you informed) will be eligible for compensation.

Details of our repair responsibilities and timescales can be found in our residents’ handbook and service standards publications.

The amount of compensation is £10, plus £2 for each day the repair has not been undertaken, to a maximum of £50. It won’t apply if the repair couldn’t be undertaken because a resident failed to provide access to the property.

If you feel you’re entitled to compensation, please call 0300 100 0303 and ask to speak with the member of staff handling your complaint.