Dad very poorly but his housing association are refusing to speak to me. Help!

[Totallybannanas]

My dad has cancer, and nearly 80. He had his boiler serviced Friday, afterwards it stopped working so no heating or hot water. He since had 6 call outs, none have been able to fix it locate the part and then they had to order it so would be back the next day etc. the frustrating thing is he has had to wait in for them or for them to call, and they haven't turned up or called back when they have said. When he rings they say someone will call you, but they never do. I have tried escalating has he is so stressed, he only got the diagnosis the day before but they are refusing to speak to me. The of communication and not turning up isn't on, especially as he wants to go out and see family whilst he is well. We find out Friday what stage he is at but to be honest we are hopeful, so quality time so important.
The thing is if he has to go into hospital there is no way he can deal with this, and we need to make sure is home warm and comfortable for him. I spoke to the guy yesterday, gave my details and my dad was present so consented but then when I rang today they refused because he wasn't there because I told him to go out and I would deal with it. Can anyone advise?

We had similar with elderly relative with dementia. Was able to find contact details of a big wig in the company online and email direct. In this case was a team contracted by the council

There are two things you can do which might help. Firstly age and diagnosis means he should meet the criteria to be registered with his HA as being vulnerable. This will push them to prioritise repairs. In housing the tenant decides if they have a vulnerability, there isn't an assessment. Secondly he can request that he nominates you to act on his behalf in dealing with them and set his communication preferences.

LPA takes a while to get sorted. But you can contact any of your Dad's financial/home affairs companies and your Dad can ask for you to be registered as a 'third party agent' - they can add a note to the record that authorises you to speak on his behalf. Most agencies will ask you for security details for you, so that when you phone on his behalf you pass your own security checks.

Does he use email? I'm wondering if he could send an email giving permission for you to speak to them on his behalf. Or even send a letter tomorrow literally first class signed for etc so it arrives Friday.

I'm sorry for the situation you're in and your dad's diagnosis.

Thank you everyone. Sorry to ask but how do I get PPA do I need a solicitor and is it expensive? My mum went through a solicitor but my dad doesn't have alot of money. My head is 🤯

You don’t get POA, your DF gives it to you. This means that he has to have capacity to set it up, but it can’t be actioned until he no longer has capacity, ie not immediately. Whilst it would be a useful thing to do, it won’t help with this situation.

As PP has said, DF needs to speak to the HA with you present. He needs to give them consent to speak to you and for you to advocate for him. They may or may not add this information to his account so you can speak to them in the future or they may insist on the verbal consent every time. He should have a named housing officer; you may need to speak to them to sort this out.

To be fair, it sounds like they have visited 6 times since Friday, provided heaters and DF was out when they called to complete the work. If getting the heating sorted is a priority, then it needs to take precedence over everything except medical appointments until it is done. Does the HA have a mobile number (yours or his) so they can text when the engineers are on their way and he can get back home in time?

The HA need to call and let him know when they are coming. HAs like to believe that tenants are sat at home all day every day.

The way HAs mess tenants about he could end up missing several appointments Posters on here have get moaned at for "messing the NHS around" Why should HAs get away with it

He wasn't out when they have visited. He has been home every day except today, where I told him to go out and I waited in for them after we had both phoned them together. They said they would call us back a few hours later to update us if anyone was coming as they were meant to this morning, I gave them my name and number. They didn't call and I was still waiting for an update, so I rang them back. They then refused to speak to me or to let me know when they will be attending despite previous conversation because my dad wasn't present to consent despite him doing it earlier.

So someone has been home all the time
I rest my case

@CloudyGladys

From OPs first post

. the frustrating thing is he has had to wait in for them or for them to call, and they haven't turned up or called back when they have said

Data protection would mean they probably can’t speak to you without consent, like bank or dr
my ha has forms that can be completed to speak to others , verbally is not taken other than when your on the phone and you authorise them to speak to someone there and then

I work for a housing association and we have a third party consent form that a tenant can complete giving permission for a chosen family member (or close friend) to make enquiries on all matters regarding the tenancy on their behalf. Ask the H.A if they do the same

They made this list
https://www.property118.com/social-landlords-slammed-by-ombudsman-in-housing-report/

Peabody and 26 others! So shocking.

Things were supposed to get better after Grenfell but my theory is that the housing sector hasnt even seen anyone get charged for Grenfell let alone jailed so they now know they can behave exactly as they like.