What to do if you feel your home is in disrepair
Every Camden tenant deserves a safe, warm, quality home. If we have not got something quite right, let us know so we can fix it.
Why reporting to us matters
Some tenants are turning to legal claims for repairs that have not been done or were not done well. Unfortunately, this trend is having a serious impact on housing budgets, tenants, and communities.
Every claim reduces the funds available for essential repairs and improvements to homes like yours. We’d much rather use that money to improve your living conditions, instead of paying legal fees.
If you’re considering making a claim because you believe we have not carried out a repair properly, report it to our repairs team first.
If you’ve already reported your repair and our team has let you down, then raise a complaint with our complaints service. This way, we can learn from our mistakes and get the problem sorted quickly.
The risks of legal claims and “claim farmers”
Legal firms often make big profits from these cases, not tenants.
Even if your claim succeeds, a lot of the money might just go to the legal firm. In some cases, tenants have even ended up with thousands of pounds of debt from legal fees and court costs, on top of the stress of going to court.
Some companies use advertising and door-knocking to encourage tenants to make compensation claims and then sell their details to solicitors for profit. They may even pretend to represent the council, but they do not.
Do not let anyone pressure you into signing legal documents. Some tenants have been left in debt with huge legal bills because they did not realise what they were signing up to.
If someone approaches you about housing disrepair:
- always ask for ID and verify it
- call the police if you feel threatened
- report anyone falsely claiming to be from the council to Trading Standards on 0808 223 1133
- do not be pressured into signing any legal documents – talk to us, or take your own independent legal advice first