Complaint compensation guidance

Compensation payments are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, with fairness as our primary goal. We will always: 

• Ensure that you are treated fairly  

• Be consistent in our approach  

• Aim to rectify issues quickly and fairly 

• Put things right 

• Provide clear expectations about the complaint compensation process 

• Listen to your feedback and use it to help improve our services 

We have no fixed limit on compensation payments and our colleagues are empowered to award an amount which appropriately reflects your experience and the severity of the situation.    

As well as putting things right, offering a compensation payment or other remedy, our approach will always include:  

• A sincere apology that addresses when we have failed to meet our service standards and why 

• An acknowledgement of how this has impacted you 

• Confirmation of how and when we intend to resolve any outstanding issues 

• An explanation of how we will learn from the situation and improve our services

Compensation payments or other remedies may be offered when: 

• The services we deliver haven’t met our standards 

• You have experienced distress, loss, and/or inconvenience when we have failed to meet our service standards 

• You lose certain facilities and/or amenities beyond agreed response times, such as heating, hot water, or not being able to use a part of your home or equipment, when we have failed to meet our service standards 

• It is appropriate to recognise dissatisfaction, disturbance and/or inconvenience caused when resolving your complaint 

Whilst we review compensation cases individually, compensation payments or other remedies would not usually be offered when: 

• An out of the ordinary situation resulted in us being unable to meet our service standards 

• There are delays that are outside of our control 

• You have made low-quality home improvements or carried out repairs, modifications or adaptations without consent from Onward 

• A fault or service failure happens because of your misuse, negligence or damage 

• The service failure is the fault of a third party, such as a utilities company 

Please note, we do not offer compensation payments or other remedies to cover a loss of earnings.  

In some cases, service failure can result in our customers being negatively impacted.  

We understand that some customers may be impacted more than others, and the level of impact can depend on the service that has failed, as well as the customer’s personal circumstances. That’s why we calculate the impact of service failure on a case-by-case basis.  

We advise that all customers should have contents insurance to protect their furniture, decorations and other personal belongings from damage or theft.  

If damage to your furniture, decorations or personal belongings has been caused by the failure of our services, or the failure of a contractor’s service, we will put things right.   

If you feel our services haven’t been up to standard and you wish to make a complaint, please click on the button below to learn more about our complaints process. 

compliments, complaints and feedback

You can also visit our Complaints Resolutions Policy by clicking on the button below to learn more. An easy-read version is also available. 

COMPLAINTS RESOLUTION POLICY

easy-read complaints resolution policy

The Housing Ombudsman is an independent organisation that investigates complaints. You can get in touch with them at any stage for help by:  

• visiting housing-ombudsman.org.uk 

• emailing info@housing-ombudsman.org.uk  

• calling their freephone number 0300 111 3000 

• writing to The Housing Ombudsman Service, PO Box 1484, Unit D, Preston, PR2 0ET 

The Energy Ombudsman is approved by Ofgem as an independent dispute resolution service which aims to impartially and independently resolve disputes between energy suppliers and their customers. You can get in touch with the Energy Ombudsman by: 

• visiting energyombudsman.org 

• emailing enquiry@energyombudsman.org    

• calling 0330 440 1624 

• writing to The Energy Ombudsman, PO Box 966, Warrington WA4 9DF