Our approach to compensation
jLiving is committed to consistently providing a high quality service to our tenants and leaseholders, but from time to time, the level of service provided may fail to achieve the agreed standards and it may sometimes be appropriate to offer compensation. In these circumstances, we will consider making a discretionary offer of compensation.
This Policy outlines the provision for compensation and redress where tenants have experienced financial loss or acute inconvenience due to service failure, poor performance or unavoidable disruption.
The Policy applies to all types of tenants or leaseholders of the Association and does not apply to other members of the public with whom the Association has no contractual relationship.
What we mean by compensation
Compensation is a payment that we offer tenants in certain situations, for example if we have not met the service standards that we aim to achieve or because we require someone to move out of their home because we need to improve the property.
What you can expect
Home loss and disturbance
If you have lived in your home for at least a year and we ask you to move out permanently, we will give you a home loss payment. You may also be entitled to a disturbance payment to compensate for your moving costs. For permanent moves, we will pay your removal costs as well as the costs of transferring your phone, disconnecting and reconnecting your cooker and washing machine, and other unavoidable costs relating to the move. The costs must be reasonable and you will need to provide receipts.
For temporary moves, we are not legally obliged to make a payment but we may consider contributing to the costs of your move. We consider each case individually.
Heating breakdown
If your heating breaks down during cold weather, we can provide you with temporary electric heaters if you do not have any of your own. We will contribute £2.15 a day towards your extra electricity costs. Please remember that for safety reasons, we do not allow gas or paraffin heaters to be used in our properties.
When you cannot use rooms or services in your home
We may pay compensation if you are not able to use a room or service in your home because of a repair problem that is our responsibility. The table below shows the payments we may make. In each instance, we will only make one of the compensation payments described – we do not ‘stack up’ multiple payments.
- No sanitary provision at all (where all toilets in the dwelling are completely unusable) – 100% of rent (after 24 hours)
- A complete loss of cold water supply – 100% of rent (after 72 hours)
- A complete loss of electricity supply – 100% of rent (after 72 hours)
- From October-March: a complete loss of heating, where no temporary alternative heating is provided – 100% of rent (after 72 hours)
- No hot water – 20% of rent (after 5 working days)
- Kitchen out of use – 20% of rent (after 72 hours)
- Bathroom out of use – 20% of rent (after 72 hours)
- Living room out of use – 20% of rent (after 10 working days)
- No use of any facilities where guest room accommodation is provided as an alternative – 50% of rent (after 5 working days) up to a maximum amount of £350.00
Tenants’ Improvements
If you are moving out of your home, you can request a compensation payment for certain improvements you made to the property and are leaving in it where you can demonstrate that improvements were made with our permission.
The home improvements which may qualify for a compensation payment are:
- a bath, shower, wash hand basin or toilet
- a kitchen sink
- storage cupboards in the kitchen
- work surfaces for preparing food
To qualify for a compensation payment, you must have:
- written to us before carrying out the work and received our consent in writing
- sent us two independent quotations for the work (we do not compensate for works you completed yourself)
- provided current insurance details for the contractors carrying out the works
We will not compensate you if we are evicting you for breaking your tenancy conditions, including rent arrears.
If you request a compensation payment at the end of your tenancy and meet the qualification criteria, we will decide what to pay based on how much the improvement cost you and how long it is likely to last. Please note that depreciation costs will be applied. jLiving only pays amounts between £50 and £3,000.
What will happen after we make a compensation offer?
When we make an offer of compensation, you must respond to the offer within 28 days and accept it within three months. If you owe us rent, and the arrears are not due to be paid by housing benefit, we will credit any compensation or other payment to your rent account unless the payment is for a specific item (e.g. to replace a damaged item of furniture). If this is the case, we will replace the item quickly or make payment upon receipt of the appropriate invoice or evidence of purchase.
How to contact us about compensation
For more information please contact us online or call Head Office on 0208 381 4901.