Thank you to everyone who completed the recent survey about our income policy.
Your feedback has helped us reshape the policy to give more support to people with mental health problems and has given us valuable insights into how we can improve the customer experience for every tenant who deals with our income team.
We sent our survey out via email in May this year, to every tenant that we have an email address for, and 125 people responded. In the survey we asked a number of questions, including how approachable our team is, and if tenants knew that you could nominate a specific person to deal with your rent account if you couldn’t do so yourself.
We also asked your opinion on a proposed policy change to introduce a short grace period for people with mental health problems who were struggling to manage their rent.
We call the team who deals with your rent account the Income Management Team. They are your first point of contact if you want to discuss anything rent-related or are struggling to pay your rent for any reason.
Overall, 89% of those who completed the survey felt they could approach our income team if they were struggling. Of the 11% who didn’t, a common theme was communication and the tone of our arrears letters.
We want our customers to engage with us about their rent accounts and it is never our intention for our letters to cause customers any unnecessary distress. As a result, we are currently reviewing the tone of our income letters, as part of a wider review of our written communications.
Only 41% of those who responded knew that you could nominate a person to deal with their rent account if they were struggling to do so themselves due to poor mental health or other additional needs.
In order to raise awareness of this option, we will more regularly promote it via our website, social media, and other communication channels.
If you’re struggling to manage your account, contact us to complete a consent form, which will give someone else the authority to act on your behalf.
Alternatively, you can download and complete the consent form here.
The overwhelming majority of people who responded thought that introducing a short grace period was a good idea, with 97% in support of the proposal.
As a result, we have now changed our policy to work more closely with tenants who are struggling with their mental health, giving them extra time to settle their arrears whilst they work with our support services.
Thank you
Thanks once again to everyone who completed our survey and helped to shape our new income policy. Look out for more opportunities to get involved and have your say about our policies, procedures, and services.