<p><span>L&amp;Q has said it is “truly sorry” for “letting down” residents after the Housing Ombudsman undertook an investigation into its complaints handling earlier this year, resulting in the housing association being ordered to pay more than £140,000 in compensation for inadequate customer service.</span><span></span></p> <p><span>The Ombudsman reviewed findings of complaints made to the housing association between March 2019 and October 2022. </span><span></span></p> <p><span>Between January to June 2023, it issued 103 determinations across 30 local authority areas, with 24 cases amounting to “severe maladministration” on at least one issue the resident raised – “an unusually high proportion”. </span><span></span></p> <p><span>The Ombudsman identified three themes of concern with L&amp;Q: documented policies and procedures not followed; “resistance to constructive feedback and learning from complaints” and a culture of poor knowledge and information management.</span><span></span></p> <p><span>It ordered the housing association, which manages more than 105,000 homes, to pay £141,860 in compensation.</span><span></span></p> <p><span>L&amp;Q said its senior leadership team was “personally contacting” those residents whose complaints the Ombudsman had investigated “to apologise for the completely unacceptable service they have received and to make sure we are learning from their experiences”. </span><span></span></p> <p><span>The housing association also pointed to its five-year improvement and investment plan, established in 2021 and that the …