Wellingborough pensioner's dispute with housing association

David Munns, who lives at Charles Robinson Court in Gillitts Road, woke up to find an inch of water in his freezing cold flat in February last year.

He phoned housing association Wellingborough Homes but says, despite several visits from engineers, the problem wasn’t fixed leaving him without heating.

He said: “I was given some hot air blowers and asked who would pay for the extra electricity it would use on the bill.

“Wellingborough Homes said they would adjust the payment to cover it.”

The problem was finally fixed in October.

Mr Munns, 78, later got an electricity bill for £392.80 for electricity used between February and October, which he says is down to using the heaters provided to keep warm.

He says his bill for the same period would normally be about £90 - but claims Wellingborough Homes have told him he has to foot the bill. He now says he could end up taking Wellingborough Homes to court.

In response Wellingborough Homes said they had offered to pay the bill but that Mr Munns had not provided them with documents they had asked for.

A spokesman said: “We were made aware of heating problems in which we attended several times in order to repair but on arrival we were not given access to this property which delayed the process.

“We provided the customer with electric heaters and have also offered to pay for the extra cost if the customer provided us with copies of previous electricity bills, which has not happened.

“All customers who experience maintenance issues within their property are asked to report them either via the customer portal or via telephone and will need to be present at the property at the time of repair.”

Mr Munns, a retired aircraft engineer, said Wellingborough Homes had not offered to pay and said their statement was “complete rubbish”.

He said: “I have been told that it’s down to me to pay the bill.

“I feel like I’m just being ignored. They couldn’t give a stuff about us old people.”