Marston’s ordered to pay damages in latest PICA-service hearing
The latest PICA-Service hearing related to complaints by Andrew and Louise Acraman, former tenants of the Halfway House at Shrewsbury.
The tenants complained of poor communication and delays, a failure to provide rental calculations, a failure to provide requested training and a breach of a requirement to carry out a full business review within a specified timeframe.
The panel found Marston’s had committed four technical breaches of its code of practice. This related to sections of the code of practice being “poorly drafter and ambiguous in respect of the need for the respondents to provide its tenants with a shadow profit and loss account/rent valuation sheet”. The panel also found a shadow profit and loss account was not agreed between the complainants and the business development manager (BDM). Marston’s was also criticised for “a period of time” where they failed to provide full business reviews once every 13 weeks. It was noted by the panel that there may have been mitigating circumstances in respect of this breach. Finally, the panel judged there was a technical breach in relation to the period of time taken to issue a substantive response to the complainants at internal grievance procedure stage.
Lack of clarity
Marston’s was also found to be in breach of the spirit of its code of practice by failing to respond or to respond promptly to the tenants on a number of occasions leading to delays and “on occasion demonstrating a lack of clarity in the issuing of responses to queries or requests” and for a failure to advise the tenants about ‘open book’ stocktaking requirements for its nominated supplier.
The Acramans were awarded an undisclosed level of damages.
The hearing, held at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, in Bloomsbury Square, London on Wednesday 16 July, was chaired by Rodger Vickers. The panel was made up of a specialist licensing solicitor, a licensed trade accountant, a consultant dispute resolution specialist, a family brewery Business Development Manager and a multiple pub freeholder.
