Clarion 'insulted intelligence' of Mitcham man who won pay out over rat infestation

A tearful tenant told Your Local Guardian he feels vindicated after an official watchdog upheld his complaint over a rat infestation.

Richard Law, 73, has won compensation from corporate landlord Clarion after the Housing Ombudsman found a series of failures by the firm.

“It’s a weight off my mind,” he said. “It wasn’t an easy thing to do, taking them on. It takes some balls. It takes some tenacity. They insulted my intelligence – but they took the wrong person on.”

Mr Law said he was formerly the elected tenant representative at Richmond Court, Mitcham, but resigned when it became clear Clarion was not acting on any of the issues he raised.

They included a rat infestation which Mr Law believes started because bin stores were not being cleaned properly.

It eventually became so severe that mouse traps had to be put in tenants’ flats, he said. Mr Law said he twice found rodents in his own first-floor flat.

In 2022, he formally complained to the Housing Ombudsman. Two years later, he has won.

Richard's neighbour managed to snap this photo of some of the rats (Image: Supplied)

The watchdog found there was “no evidence” of the quarterly estate inspections Clarion was supposed to carry out, nor that it had acted on any of the recommendations made by pest controllers who visited the block seven times in 11 months between 2021 and 2022.

Clarion also “failed to undertake a meaningful investigation” into reports of a rat infestation at the block, which is five minutes’ walk from Phipps Bridge on the Croydon tram line.

The ombudsman wrote that there was a “significant discrepancy” between pest contractors’ assessment of the block’s cleanliness and Clarion’s.

Mr Law claimed he was so distrustful of Clarion’s own inspections that he asked to shadow one and document it with a videocamera, but was banned from doing so.

Clarion would not confirm or deny this claim. It said: “Residents are welcome to attend inspections with staff which are advertised on the noticeboard.”

Pest controllers attended Richmond Court seven times in 11 months, but the Housing Ombudsman said Clarion failed to provide any evidence that it acted on any of the experts' recommendations (Image: Supplied)

Clarion told the ombudsman it denied “any service failure in relation to the management of communal areas”, but offered to pay Mr Law £175 compensation for “the time he had taken to bring the issues forward and the delay in it providing its response”.

However, the ombudsman disagreed and ordered it to pay £500: £150 for failures in management and record keeping; £150 for its failure to provide any evidence it followed the pest controller’s recommendations; and £200 for the time Mr Law lost contesting the issue.

The report said Clarion “failed to use the complaints process to effectively investigate the resident’s concerns, to address the failures on its part, or to take any action to seek to ensure that similar failures do not occur in the future.”

Mr Law said he believed all Richmond Court tenants should receive compensation, as they all lived with the problem just as he had.

“The others should be entitled to the same,” he said.

But Clarion has refused to compensate other tenants and would not make any on-the-record comment about that refusal.

Richard Law said he would continue to challenge Clarion until he felt all the estate's problems had been fixed (Image: Charles Thomson)

Mr Law called the firm “pig-headed”.

He is now awaiting delivery of documents the ombudsman ordered Clarion to turn over to him, including estate management reports, attendance records for cleaners and caretakers, and its responses to all recommendations by the pest contractors.

Mr Law said he remained unhappy with the cleaning service, with weeds growing in the walkways outside tenants’ homes, guttering full of litter and accumulations of dirt and detritus in communal outdoor areas.

"We're being charged for cleaning but all we're getting is litter picking," he said.

“If the service doesn’t improve, I will be inviting Clarion’s chief executive down to Wimbledon.

“My invitation won’t be to the tennis. It will be to the courthouse. This is only the end of the beginning.”

Mr Law said he remained unimpressed with the cleaning at Richmond Court, where he pointed out weeds growing from the walkways, dirty ceilings and guttering full of rubbish, among other issues (Image: Charles Thomson)

Clarion said: “We are committed to making sure Richmond Court is kept clean and well-maintained and we are sorry for the previous rodent issues.

“Following Mr Law’s complaint, we reviewed the service and have increased our cleaning quality assurance checks of the block to ensure standards are met.

“We decided to seal the bin chutes on the advice of our pest control contractor, with the bins relocated to the rear of the block. These changes have reduced the rodent activity at Richmond Court, which we continue to monitor.

“It is always our aim to work together with residents to address issues promptly as and when they arise to maintain a clean and safe environment for all.”