Our Right to Repair scheme gives assured and secure tenants the right to use a contractor from our approved list to carry out emergency or urgent repairs, and to be reimbursed by the association where we have failed in our duty to have the repair carried out within a specified timescale.
Jigsaw classify repairs that are our responsibility as emergency, urgent, routine or, non-routine and at the time the repair is reported we advise the tenant that the repair should be completed within one of these timescales:
At our discretion, routine and non-urgent repairs may be held for inclusion in a planned or cyclical maintenance programme.
For the purposes of this scheme we define a qualifying repair as a defect that is our responsibility to repair and that is classified by us as: Priority 0 – Emergency Repair or Priority 1 – Urgent Repair.
Priority 0 – Emergency Repairs
These are emergency repairs because they involve water, electricity, gas or drains, which may be dangerous or threaten your health. We aim to make these safe within 24 hours.
Priority 1 – Urgent Repairs
These are repairs which are not an emergency but require urgent attention because they may cause damage to your home. They include leaking pipes, rain coming in badly, minor electrical faults and so on. We aim to do these within 5 working days of the date reported.
(Visit our Reporting Repairs article for further information regarding our repair priorities.)
When an emergency or urgent repair is reported, Jigsaw, if satisfied that the repair is the landlord’s responsibility records the information onto our systems with details of the work ordered and this generates a target date by which the repair is to be completed and this is confirmed to the tenant.
If Jigsaw fails to carry out the repair within the timescale given they should report the repair again and inform us that it is the second request for the work. We will then re-issue the repair and set a new target date.
If the second date passes without the work being carried out the tenant can apply to us to exercise their right to repair. We will consider this request promptly.
The request is refused and the tenant notified in writing if:
- The repair is a routine or non-routine repair
- The repair is being held for inclusion in a planned or cyclical maintenance programme
- The repair is the tenant’s responsibility
- The repair was not completed because the tenant has acted unreasonably, or was unable to grant appropriate access to the property.
- The cost is under £250
- The claim was not made within one month of the completion date
- A temporary repair has been made which we are returning to
- The tenant was notified that the repair completion date was going to be put back due to circumstance beyond the control of Jigsaw.
If we are satisfied that the tenant does qualify to exercise the Right to Repair we confirm this in writing. The letter to the tenant includes:
- A description of the qualifying repair
- The name and address of up to 4 contractors from Jigsaw’s approved list
- Instructions to the tenant on how to proceed, including our requirements to inspect the work.
The tenant must use an approved contractor. The letter is copied to the contractors for information.
Reimbursement
The contractor informs us once the repair has been carried out. We either pay the contractor directly (this being our preferred method) or reimburse the tenant subject to the production of an invoice and inspection of the completed work to our satisfaction, up to the Jigsaw’s specified limit for minor repairs.
Our aim is to honour our obligations to repair by completing repairs within our published timescales.
Where we fail to make safe an emergency repair or complete an urgent repair within our published timescales the compensation scheme is as follows:
- Flat rate one off payment of £10
- Plus £2 per day (for each day the repair is outstanding up to) a maximum of £50.
If the tenant owes monies to Jigsaw, the amount owing will be deducted from any compensation payment.
The Operations Manager will deal with Right to Repair requests and claims for re-imbursement and compensation. Re-imbursement and compensation payments are authorised by the Head of Service, on the recommendation of the Operations Manager.
In addition to the above, the Head of Service also has the authority and discretion to reimburse the cost of repairs undertaken by tenants in cases where the Right to Repair scheme does not apply.
Jigsaw has established a scheme providing our Tenants with a remedy if we fail to carry out our obligations to repair. Jigsaw will provide details of the scheme at the beginning of the tenancy and inform the Tenant of any changes.
Compensation is sometimes offered following an investigation of a complaint. These requests will be handled in line with our Group Complaints and Compensation Policies, which can be found HERE.
