Unauthorised Access to Garden (August 2020)

Mr A complained that our contractor had accessed their garden without his knowledge and/or consent.

Summary

Mr A complained that our contractor had accessed their garden without his knowledge and/or consent to investigate a repair required. Mr A wasn’t pleased as it had happened a number of times previously and he’d been told that this would not happen again. We investigated and confirmed that our contractor should not have accessed his property without prior arrangement or consent. We apologised for this error, explained that due to the lockdown and staff being furloughed, it was difficult to monitor contractor visits and that we were disappointed that it had happened again. We accepted that there had been a service failure from the outset and took steps to try to prevent this from happening again. A sign on Mr A’s gate was installed warning against unauthorised entry.

Mr A referred the complaint to the Ombudsman

Outcome

HOS concluded their investigation and found that we fully acknowledged our failings and took reasonable steps to offer redress. HOS were also satisfied with the measure we put in place to protect Mr A’s privacy.

Recommendations

No recommendations or orders were made by the HOS.