RBH warns tenants over cold-calling 'claims farmers' offering compensation for repairs

Rochdale Boroughwide Housing has warned tenants to be on their guard after a number of customers reported being cold-called by a firm asking about property repairs.

The landlord says the callers offered to provide a solicitor to work on tenants' behalf so they could claim compensation. Firms operating this way - sometimes called claims management companies or "claims farmers" - typically describe themselves as offering "no win, no fee" services.

"Be careful - if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is," RBH said, urging anyone with a concern about their home to talk to the landlord directly so it can be sorted. Repairs can be reported via the MyRBH portal at www.myrbh.org.uk, by calling Freephone 0800 027 7769, or by emailing rbh.repairs@rbh.org.uk. RBH says it aims to get things right first time, and tenants who feel it has fallen short can find details of how to complain at www.rbh.org.uk/feedback.

Why this matters in Rochdale

No warning about housing disrepair in this borough can be read in isolation from what happened to Awaab Ishak.

Awaab was two years old when he died in December 2020. In November 2022, a coroner concluded that his death was caused by prolonged exposure to mould in his family's RBH flat on the Freehold estate - mould his parents had repeatedly reported. The case caused national outrage, cost RBH its chief executive, and led directly to Awaab's Law, which sets legal time limits for social landlords in England to investigate and fix damp, mould and other hazards, with the first phase of those duties coming into force in October 2025.

That history cuts two ways. It explains why RBH is now at pains to encourage tenants to report repairs directly and to demonstrate that reports will be acted on - rebuilding confidence that was badly damaged. And it also explains why claims firms see RBH tenants as a market worth cold-calling: disrepair claims against social landlords have grown sharply across the country, and a landlord with RBH's recent history is an obvious target for firms seeking clients.

Tenants are entitled to seek independent legal advice about genuine disrepair, and nothing prevents them doing so. But consumer bodies have long warned that some claims firms take large cuts of any compensation, sign tenants up to agreements with exit fees, or pursue claims that leave tenants worse off than simply having the repair done. A tenant's first and simplest route remains reporting the problem to the landlord - and, if it is not fixed, escalating through the complaints process and then to the Housing Ombudsman, which is free.

The test for RBH is the one Awaab's case set: whether reports of damp, mould and disrepair are fixed properly and fast, first time. If they are, the cold-callers will find little to farm.