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Selected Cases and Summaries of Completed Investigations - April to September 2000
Volume 3 - 3rd REPORT - SESSION 2000-2001
Chapter 2
OFFICE OF WATER SERVICES
Case No: C.869/00
Delay in completing an investigation of a complaint, failure to acknowledge or reply to correspondence, failure to act promptly on new evidence, provision of contradictory information
This was the second of two complaints by Mr and Mrs R. As a result of his intervention in the first complaint, on 20 April 1999 the Ombudsman reported that the Office of Water Services (OFWAT) had undertaken to investigate Mr and Mrs R's complaint about the disconnection of their agricultural water supply and OFWAT's Southern Customer Service Committee's handling of the complaint. Mr and Mrs R subsequently complained to the Ombudsman about OFWAT's investigation. In particular, they complained about delay in completing the investigation, failure to acknowledge or reply to their land agent's letter of 18 November 1999, failure to act promptly on new evidence, and provision of contradictory information. The Ombudsman was satisfied the conclusions and recommendations reached by OFWAT represented a realistic and fair outcome to Mr and Mrs R's complaint. He found that OFWAT should have completed the investigation by December 1999; and had failed to act on evidence and to keep Mr and Mrs R informed of progress between January and April 2000. OFWAT agreed to offer Mrs R a consolatory payment of £50 for the time, trouble and expense suffered through having to chase OFWAT for progress during that time. Additionally, the Ombudsman criticised OFWAT for failure to at least acknowledge the land agent's letter explaining that they did not intend to reply substantively. In the light of the Ombudsman's finding that OFWAT's customer guide was misleading regarding disclosure of information during an investigation, OFWAT agreed to review the guide to clarify their policy. The Ombudsman criticised OFWAT further for failure to communicate to Mr and Mrs R their conclusions on the Committee's handling of Mr and Mrs R's initial complaint; but welcomed their offer now to do so.
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