Inside Housing – Comment – Time for a clampdown on claims management companies?

What really “rips ma knittin” (as we say in Glasgow when we’re annoyed) are some of the underhand tactics these firms are applying. From doorstepping an 84-year-old, taking photos of the property and asking her to sign a blank screen that turned out to be a conditional fee agreement, to cold-calling tenants purporting to be an employee of their housing association, this disgraceful behaviour needs to be rooted out and sanctioned against. 

In many cases this is also dragging the repairs issue out for tenants. Riverside recently shared a case study with the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee of a court case that dragged the resolution of repairs out across three years. The case lasted 34 months only for it to be dismissed by the judge after evidence was presented that jobs and inspections had been raised and followed through. Sadly, the tenant called to give evidence was visibly distressed in court and said she “never wanted it to progress this far”.

To its credit, the government is already in the process of addressing some of the issues, with plans to introduce fixed recoverable costs for housing disrepair claims later this year, similar to the changes introduced to limit personal injury claims.

“Our sector must remain steadfast in its customer-first priority and work together with tenants to resolve home repair issues quickly and effectively”

The issue is also on the ombudsman’s radar. However, I think we need to go further to protect our tenants, with the better regulation of CMCs and limiting the success fees legal firms can deduct from the damages paid to tenants in the case of successful claims.

I completely accept there are instances where a legal route to addressing disrepair is necessary and law firms can be helpful allies to tenants with legitimate claims. The rights of tenants to hold their landlord to account on poor standards must be protected. Tenants need access to good legal advice, but not through a model that has incentivised the development of perverse business practices in the hands of a small number of CMCs and legal firms.

For me this one is simple: do we want to turn a blind eye to the malpractice, sit back and let unscrupulous CMCs and legal firms continue to target tenants for their own financial gain? Or do we want to develop a fairer system that protects tenants and prevents profiteering?

Our sector must remain steadfast in its customer-first priority and work together with tenants to resolve home repair issues quickly and effectively. Protracted and expensive litigation is lining the pockets of CMCs and legal firms and hampering the sector’s ability to improve homes for our customers.

Carol Matthews, chief executive, Riverside