Housing Ombudsman defends move to ‘no longer accept complaints by email’ following criticism

The Housing Ombudsman Service has stressed it would never block a complaint because it was submitted by email, following concerns about its plan to direct residents to an online form.

The Ombudsman last month announced in a statement it would “no longer accept new case enquiries sent by email” and said residents should instead use its online form. It believes directing residents to a form will remove “back and forth” communication and speed up its complaints handling processes.

The move has however raised concerns that some residents may find it more difficult to communicate with the Ombudsman or access its services as a result.

Some have also effectively accused the watchdog of double standards, pointing out that the Ombudsman’s own Complaints Handling Code specifies that social landlords must provide “different channels” through which they can make a complaint and that residents “must be able to raise their complaints in any way.”

The Ombudsman’s announcement prompted a flurry of comments on the Linked In social platform.

Jo Leckie, chief executive of consultancy Big Picture Training, in a response to the Ombudsman, said: “I believe this is putting a barrier in the way and is system designed for your benefit. I’ve been advising landlords reference the code, not to restrict complainants to forms, and now you’ve turned it on its head,” she said.

Deborah Chowney, a former employment and training officer at Vivid, said: “Surely if you are about inclusivity and ensuring open access to the complaints procedure, you should accept complaints in any form to assist those making the complaint and not just do what you think is easier for you? Is this the tail wagging the dog?”.

Lynda Hance, a director at Upkeep Training, said: “How interesting. And how ironic. Social housing landlords are expected to accept complaints in whatever form/at the resident chooses/prefers to make them. Doesn’t the Ombudsman see a role for themselves in leading by example?”.

The Ombudsman however this morning told Housing Today that it would never block a complaint altogether because the resident contacted them by email.

It said: “If a resident emails us in a complaint, we will ask if that resident is able to use the online form to provide us with the full and complete information we need (if this is not provided in the email).

“If they are not able to, we will proceed with how the resident can best access us. If this is by email, that will absolutely be the way we do it but in most cases we are finding that is either the online form or phone. But we will never block or not accept a complaint because the resident has come to us via email.”

The spokesperson added that the online form “brings clear benefits”.

He also denied the accusations that the Ombudsman is breaking the spirit of its own Complaints Handling Code for social landlords.

He said: “This is not the only route that residents can take to complain to us. Additionally, we are also providing telephone support and assisted digital help for those who find technology to be a barrier to them. We also provide alternative communication methods as a reasonable adjustment, including written options if required.

“This meets the requirements in the code as we offer different channels to complain, and that if reasonable adjustments are required, we will offer further alternatives.

“Moving more residents to using our online web form allows our caseworkers to be more proactive with our contact at various stages in the complaints journey. This will mean residents are not chasing updates and we are progressing complaints faster, which will benefit both residents and landlords.”

Rob Gershon, a social housing tenant and activist said: “As a tenant I understand that the more ways of accessing the Ombudsman Service there are, the better.

“As someone who has helped prepare escalations of complaints, I sympathise with the Ombudsman’s desire to make it easier to categorise and prioritise cases. It is my feeling the majority of residents should be encouraged to use the forms - it would help in the resolution of cases - but where people would otherwise be excluded emails should remain. “