Legal Disrepairs

Traditional approaches to housing condition claims often rely on internal resources such as in-house legal teams and asset management staff. Our service is designed to alleviate this burden for landlords by managing the entire process from start to finish, offering an efficient, streamlined approach. 

 We have a dedicated team with extensive experience in handling housing condition cases. Our expertise in defendant work allows us to offer strategic and commercial advice, ensuring our clients avoid appearing unsupportive of their tenants' needs—a key concern today. Landlords must take these claims seriously and comply with Housing Ombudsman advice and Social Housing Regulation requirements.

We believe the most effective way to manage these claims is through efficient resolution, balancing the need to address valid claims while removing spurious claims from the caseload quickly.

 Our experience allows us to handle cases in a cost-effective, efficient manner, ensuring that claims are resolved promptly. The most significant expense in these matters is the claimant’s solicitor’s fees, which increase over time. The quicker we resolve cases, the more cost-effective and efficient the overall handling process becomes. 

Our expertise enables us to provide accurate and early risk management advice. We can advise on whether to settle cases where the tenant is likely to be successful—thereby limiting legal cost exposure—or defend cases based on the information provided within disclosure documents and inspection reports, removing spurious claims early.

Our team has vast experience in managing costs related to housing condition cases, which helps us minimize costs paid out when a claimant is successful and provides accurate cost estimates if a case proceeds to a later stage.

We offer cost-effective solutions to clients, ensuring that our expertise is maintained without compromising on communication. We can operate on a fixed-fee basis, providing complete transparency over outsourcing costs. If the claim is not valid, we produce a detailed report explaining our reasoning, which you’ll need to approve. We manage all communication with the claimant’s solicitors, which can either lead to the claim being dropped or proceed confidently to the next stage.

•  Stage 1: We receive the claim disclosure, including the letter of claim and relevant information, within a 21-day window. We assess the claim’s validity and, if valid, conduct a survey and provide a detailed report with recommendations for a quick, cost-effective solution. This may involve agreeing on necessary works, a small settlement, and setting deadlines for completion. If the claim is invalid, we produce a report explaining our reasoning and manage communication with the claimant’s solicitors to potentially drop the claim or move to Stage 2.
• Stage 2: This stage focuses on expert evaluation, including a CPR 35-compliant expert witness report. Whether joint or solo, we manage the process to expedite timelines. For solo reports, we include Part 35 questions, which become part of the court documentation.
• Stage 3: Reserved for cases where we are confident in winning, this stage ensures a thorough and successful defense. Throughout all stages, we provide detailed reports and analysis to ensure the claim is handled swiftly and cost-effectively.

Our specialist response teams offer services tailored to the needs of our customers and their residents. We handle everything from emergency damp and mould remedial works to planned maintenance programs while maintaining high standards of quality, safety, and customer service.