Man gets paid just £520 compensation after his gran died in mouldy flat

A horrified grandson has slammed a housing association who gave him just £520 compensation after his gran died living in a mouldy flat. Pamela Brown had lived in her one-bedroom home for 15 years and died less than five months after her grandson Michael Poole first raised the issue of mould in the property.

He claims his 95-year-old gran’s bathroom suffered serious water damage in September 2021 due to a leak from the flat above

And he says this then led to black mould spreading.

Mr Poole claims the support bars in the bathroom were weighed down by water coming through the wall, the medicine cabinet fell off the wall, and water was coming out of the shower socket.

He says his gran was in good health for her age, and when she died on January 22 last year pneumonia was listed as the main cause of death.

He received a letter from Orbit Housing Association where they apologised for the delays in not fixing the damp and gave him £520 in compensation.

Mr Poole told the Mirror: "It shows the value they put on somebody's life, not that there is a value anyway, but it shows their mentality."

The 41-year-old was fighting his own illness at the time the leak happened and first raised the issue with the housing association after his gran’s carers sent him pictures of her flat in Culworth House in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.

He claims his complaint "fell on deaf ears" and he was horrified when he saw the conditions for himself.

Mr Poole raised the issue in October 2021 but says Orbit representatives didn’t come out until the beginning of November, and when they did he was not satisfied with the work they carried out.

He claims: “All they did was come out and paint the damp patches. I had to force the manager to come out himself to see the state of the property and it was then they agreed that they will take the wall and shower down to do a proper investigation into the black mould."

And he claims a senior manager came to the flat and said they did not see a problem and accused him of wasting their time.

Mr Poole said: "Ultimately my gran was 95 and in remarkable health for a woman of her age.

"Since the damp started she was in and out of the hospital with infections and she wasn't able to fight it off.

“She came home from the hospital on January 20 and passed away on January 22."

He asked Orbit what its bereavement policy was and was told he had to give four weeks’ notice.

After his gran’s death, he posted the keys through the housing association’s office letterbox giving the notice.

But while still grieving for his gran he was horrified to get a letter from Orbit saying he was in arrears and that they would take possession of the flat.

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He said: "They were still charging rent because I hadn't informed of the death and when you inform them you have to give a death certificate and unless I gave them the death certificate they were going to charge rent."

In a letter from Orbit to Mr Poole in May 2022, they said they partially agreed with his complaints and awarded him £520. They also acknowledged that his gran was a "vulnerable tenant".

Mr Poole says his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Isabella will now grow up with no memory of Pamela.

He said: "She only had me and Isabella and she was the most lovely woman she just would do anything to take care of anybody.

"She was my nan and she was everything I had - I grew up in foster care and my foster parents were vile, but my nan was everything she was my only family."

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An Orbit Housing Association spokesperson said: “We are saddened by the death of Mrs Brown and extend our sincere condolences to her family.

“In mid-September 2021 we were notified that water had seeped into Mrs Brown’s bathroom as a result of a leak from the property above. Once we had completed the repairs, the bathroom was fully redecorated in December 2021.

“Whilst we acknowledge that this took longer than we’d have liked and have previously offered Mr Poole compensation for the frustration caused, we have been provided with no evidence that the water ingress in Mrs Brown's home was in any way a contributing factor to her death.

“After repeated requests to Mr Poole for the provision of Mrs Brown’s death certificate, once this was provided all outstanding charges allocated to the property’s rent account were reversed and Mrs Brown’s account was closed. Mr Poole has not been required to make any payments to us.”