Repairs and disrepair — Plus Dane Housing

Before thinking about any legal claim, report the problem and complain to Plus Dane. It is free, and it is often the fastest way to get repairs moving. It also creates a written record of what you reported and when — the evidence a claim relies on later, if you ever need one.

Report the repair. Use Plus Dane's online repair reporting tool (opens in new tab), email customer@plusdane.co.uk, or message it on WhatsApp on 0151 351 4747. For anything urgent, phone instead: Plus Dane aims to answer emails within 5 working days, and WhatsApp messages sent out of hours on the next working day.^[14]

Plus Dane's contact number. Call Plus Dane free on 0800 169 2988, from 8.30am to 5.30pm on weekdays.^[14]

In an emergency. The same number runs a 24-hour emergency line outside those hours. After 10pm, Plus Dane's repairs policy limits call-outs to threats to life or extensive damage to the home.^[14] If anyone is in immediate danger, call 999. If you smell gas, call the National Gas Emergency number, 0800 111 999.^[14]

Report damp and mould. Plus Dane asks tenants to tell it about damp or mould that their own steps do not fix, and its repairs policy says it will assess a report for a hazard.^[19]

Make a complaint. Complain through Plus Dane's feedback and complaints page (opens in new tab), by email, by phone, by letter or in person.^[17] Plus Dane acknowledges a complaint within 5 working days. It aims to answer Stage 1 within 10 working days of that, and a Stage 2 review within 20 working days.^[17] Someone else can complain for you.^[18]

Complain early, and before any legal case. Plus Dane's complaints policy says it may not accept a complaint about an issue more than twelve months old, or one that is part of a legal case or insurance claim.^[18]

If the complaint doesn't fix it: the Housing Ombudsman. After Stage 2, you can take the complaint to the Housing Ombudsman. Plus Dane says you can also ask the Ombudsman for advice at any time during a complaint.^[17] The Ombudsman is free and independent, and it can order a landlord to do repairs, apologise and pay compensation.

Free advice. Shelter and Citizens Advice offer free housing advice. A local law centre can tell you whether you qualify for legal aid — for disrepair, it can be available to make a landlord deal with a serious risk to health or safety, though not normally for a compensation-only claim.

"Disrepair" means problems with your home that your landlord is legally responsible for fixing but hasn't. That can include:

• damp and mould
• leaks from the roof, gutters or pipes
• broken heating or no hot water
• faulty electrics
• rotten or draughty windows and doors
• cracked walls or unsafe floors and stairs.

Is it Plus Dane's repair? Plus Dane maintains the structure of your home and the fixtures and fittings it supplied; fittings you installed are yours. Its repairs responsibilities guide (opens in new tab) lists who fixes what, and it may charge for repairs that fall to you.^[15]

You may have a claim against Plus Dane if all of these apply:

1. Plus Dane is your landlord. The landlord named on your tenancy agreement is what counts. Plus Dane's registered name is Plus Dane Housing Limited.^[2]
2. Plus Dane knew about the problem. Usually that means you reported it — so keep texts, emails, WhatsApp messages, photos and repair references.
3. It failed to fix the problem in a reasonable time. What is reasonable depends on the problem; Plus Dane's own published timescales, in the FAQs below, are a useful guide.
4. You were affected — your health suffered, belongings were damaged, or part of your home became unusable.

A shared owner or leaseholder? Your lease, not a tenancy agreement, sets out which repairs Plus Dane must do. Shelter or Citizens Advice can explain where you stand.

A claim aims to get the work done and to recognise what living with the problem has cost you. Depending on what happened, a claim may cover:

• an order to do the work — a court can require Plus Dane to carry out the repairs;
• the impact on daily life — the inconvenience and distress of living with the disrepair;
• harm to health — for example a chest condition made worse by damp and mould;
• ruined belongings — clothes, bedding, carpets or furniture spoiled by damp or leaks;
• rooms you could not use — a bedroom, bathroom or kitchen that was unsafe or unusable.

Nobody can give a reliable figure before looking at the evidence. The value turns on how bad the disrepair was, how long Plus Dane took after it knew, and the effect on you and your household.

Compensation through the complaints process is different. Plus Dane sometimes offers compensation through its own complaints process. The Ombudsman found such an offer put things right in one damp and mould case. In another, it found that Plus Dane's offer did not fully compensate the tenant, and ordered more.^[4][6] Accepting an offer is your choice. If the problem has gone on a long time, Shelter or Citizens Advice can help you weigh it up.

Step 1 — tell us what's happened. You answer some straightforward questions about the problem, when you reported it to Plus Dane, what it did, and how it has affected you. Repair references, photos and Plus Dane's Stage 1 and Stage 2 complaint letters all help.

Step 2 — get your free report. We check your answers against the legal tests on this page and give you a written view of whether you may have a claim and how strong it looks. Your first conversation with us is always free.

Step 3 — if your case is strong, we connect you with an independent, regulated law firm — and we will be upfront about that before you commit to anything. The firm advises you, writes to Plus Dane formally, and usually arranges an independent survey of your home. Most disrepair cases settle without a court hearing.

A note on time limits. A disrepair claim is normally treated as a contract claim, and because an unfixed repair is usually a continuing breach, a claim can usually reach back six years from when it is issued.^[20] Where part of the claim is for an injury to health, that part usually has a shorter, three-year limit.^[20] Claims take months rather than weeks, so keep reporting repairs while any claim runs.