Our services for you Welcome to your service guide

All of us at Thirteen are looking You might remember that we sent you forward to another busy year some information last year to get your working for you. opinions about planned changes to the way your landlord and Thirteen are This guide brings you details of services structured. We’re aiming to simplify how that are available and improvements we we’re organised and to bring all are making. landlords in the group together to form one organisation called Thirteen. You’ll find information about our Our original aim was to do this by April self-service website, customer services, this year but we’re now working to repairs, home improvements, building complete this process between July new homes, services that are available and September. This means that your for you, your neighbourhood officer, and landlord will stay the same for a little some useful contact details. while longer but we’ll let you know more about this process later in the year. We have also been listening to feedback from tenants, leaseholders and If you have any thoughts about how we customers and as a result, many can improve what we do for you, please improvements to our services are get in touch. underway, with more planned throughout the year. Best wishes

Ian Wardle Group Chief Executive On behalf of everyone at Thirteen

2 3 Making things easier for you - Contacting customer services Thirteen self-service 24/7

You can log onto Thirteen’s We’re working on the next phase of Contacting Thirteen couldn’t Improving customer services self-service website to carry our self-service website which will have be easier. During 2017, we’ll be working to improve out a range of tasks. even more functions and is expected to our customer services. As part of this, launch within a year. We all know that it can sometimes be we’re increasing the number of staff in In 2016, we launched the self-service difficult to decide which number to our Customer Service Team to help us website for tenants to go alongside Thirteen’s website also has lots of phone if you need to contact respond to your queries more quickly. our landlord websites which we useful information to help you get the departments in a large organisation. re-designed earlier in the year. most from your time as a Thirteen Contact us customer and can help you to: That’s why in 2016, we introduced a To get more information or to tell us The self-service site gives you 24/7 single telephone number that all our about anything to do with your home, access to: • find a new home to rent or buy customers can use to request or find you can contact: • report a home repair • get help to pay your rent out about any service within Thirteen. • view rent accounts • get advice about benefits and money www.thirteengroup.co.uk • pay rent online management By calling 0300 111 1000, you can customerservices@ • update personal details • find out about home ownership speak to customer service staff who thirteengroup.co.uk • contact us for anything to do with options will help you access the service you 0300 111 1000 your home or tenancy. • find a job with Thirteen. need. Our Customer Service Team aims to If you haven’t used the site already, For details about all Thirteen’s services, answer calls within 30 seconds. you need to log on at the visit: www.thirteengroup.co.uk address below. We also use social media to let people Alternatively, use your know about a range of issues and help smartphone to scan you to get in touch with us. Follow us or the QR code. like us at: Thirteen_Group You can register to view your rent account online, print a rent statement, order ThirteenGroup an Allpay card and much more. You will need your tenant number (from your rent letter) and an email address to register. Visit www.thirteengroup.co.uk/ SelfService

4 5 You said, we did Looking after your home - repairs

We carried out 160,000 repairs Examples of repairs that customers on tenants’ homes last year. are responsible for include: • renewing carpets and other flooring All customers of Thirteen receive the you have fitted Many tenants, leaseholders and Last year, we undertook two in-depth same level of service for repairs, which • repairing blinds, curtains and rails includes the length of time it takes to • fixing door bells customers made suggestions independent tenant satisfaction • smoke alarm batteries carry out a repair. during 2016 about what we do surveys as well as ongoing discussions • light fittings and bulbs with our customer panels and a series and how it could be improved. • repairing minor cracks in plaster of customer consultations. Since There are different responsibilities for • bath plug and chain November, we have also been carrying the type of repair that we carry out, and • fixing damage caused by a visitor Thank you if you have been involved as out weekly satisfaction surveys for the type of repair that you’re or a member of your household. this information is vital to improve what responsible for. Visit the website for repairs and gas services. we do for you. more details and information about help Reporting repairs As a result of this, we’re making some for disabled customers. We’re making improvements to our changes: repairs appointment system during Examples of repairs that we are 2017. If you need to report a repair to You said... We did... responsible for include: your home, please get in touch using • foundations, roofs, walls and the details below. It’s difficult to contact the right We have employed more colleagues in external finishings member of staff our contact centre. You will also find • outside doors, window frames, You can also call us to report emergency repairs outside office hours. the names of your neighbourhood drains, gutters, external pipes, Emergencies include repairs to blocked officers in the back of this booklet. fencing, lighting, doors and stairways or leaking drains, loss of gas or water, or • gas and electric services from dangerous and insecure structures. To We need to complete repairs when We’re introducing a new repairs IT your meter and water services to, and report repairs and find out about repair we say we will system to improve our repairs inside, your home response times, please use the details timescales further. • baths, basins, sinks and toilets below. • communal areas within our When things go wrong, we need to put We’ve created a new Customer properties. You can report repairs to them right Relations Team to ensure that any your home at: problems are resolved quickly and You’re responsible for fixing any https://selfservice. we learn from any mistakes. damage that has not been caused thirteengroup.co.uk or by fair wear and tear. www.thirteengroup.co.uk/repairs customerservices@ thirteengroup.co.uk 0300 111 1000

6 7 Gas safety in your home Improving homes

We work closely with tenants to Customers receive a letter with a gas We work on a range of projects 39 homes have been switched to an air make sure their homes are gas safety appointment around 10 months to improve our customers’ source heat pump that draws heat from safe. after their previous check. When you homes. the outside air, which will lead to an receive an appointment, please make average saving of around £250 a year Every year, customers who rent a home sure that someone is at home to let the The type of maintenance we carry out on fuel bills. receive an appointment for a Gas Safe engineer in. Alternatively, contact us to - and when we do it - depends on a Registered gas safety engineer to visit rearrange your appointment, if what we range of issues like the age of the Alongside these projects, we’re and carry out essential safety checks offer isn’t convenient. property’s fittings, and regulations for working on environmental schemes on their gas appliances such as boilers things like heating systems and wiring. worth around £500,000 to improve the and fires. quality of neighbourhoods for our During 2016-17, we’re working on £37m tenants. Sometimes it’s difficult to gain access to of improvement work to 4,476 homes. customers’ homes and during 2016 we We are also responsible for making sure worked successfully to reduce a Between April 2016 and March this that many of the public and communal backlog of gas servicing appointments. year, we will have worked to replace areas on our estates are well major fixtures and fittings in our maintained. You can find out about The checks help to keep the appliances homes including: planned maintenance at running smoothly and efficiently, www.thirteengroup.co.uk/ keeping the household safe and • 553 kitchens FindOutAbout potentially saving customers money on • 2,474 heating systems fuel bills. • 1,010 door replacements • 1,583 window replacements • 675 bathrooms.

We have also arranged for 255 You can get more details on customers to be switched from our gas servicing web page: inefficient electric heating systems. www.thirteengroup.co.uk/ More than 200 homes have been GasServicing moved to mains gas heating with a new efficient combi boiler installed. Another

8 9 Investment in 2017

In 2017 - 18, we’ll be working in towns across our area to install: Looking ahead to 2017-18, we Heating plan to carry out £27m of Area Kitchens Bathrooms Boilers distribution Windows Doors improvements to our homes. 6 43 313 313 107 24

This will include replacing 638 kitchens, Park 513 230 565 bathrooms and 2,797 boilers. More 276 276 than 800 properties will receive new windows and doors. 30 146 146 157 238 238 We will spend over £5m on environmental improvements over 5 3 118 the next year, including boundary Cumberland 56 56 schemes and work to improve Holmwood 26 26 36 neighbourhoods for our customers, together with a further £3m on some Benson Street 14 14 9 9 of our high-rise buildings. 3 3 If your home is being updated this year, Grange Road 56 12 we’ll send you a letter to tell you about Tai Hua Court 20 the plans. We’ll then contact you to discuss details of the improvement Parkside 22 22 work, giving you the chance to let us Green Lane 15 16 16 know about any issues you’d like us to be aware of. South Bank 31 33 Spencerbeck 10 49 Overfields 1 7 Centre 8

10 11 Services for you Buying as well as renting Money advice Anti-social behaviour

Last year over 2,000 Thirteen It’s important that our tenants feel safe customers received help from our in their homes and that issues of Money Advice Team. anti-social behaviour (ASB) can be tackled. Our team can give you details about things like bank accounts, savings and Our Anti-Social Behaviour Team can loans and credit unions, and help you to: help you to deal with a range of issues and provide advice and support if you • claim the benefits you’re entitled to experience ASB. • deal with benefit problems • deal with debt problems You can get more details from: • manage your money and budget for www.thirteengroup.co.uk the things you need. customerservices@ thirteengroup.co.uk For more information or to make an 0300 111 1000 appointment with a specially-trained money advisor, please get in touch Supporting young people using the details below: into work

Ask for the Money Advice Team at: Last year, we set up a new scheme to 0300 111 1000 help young people get into work, training or education. If you or anyone you know is looking for website which has information about all customerservices@ a new home to rent or buy, it couldn’t the homes we have for sale. thirteengroup.co.uk Called New Directions, the scheme is be easier to find out about the homes www.thirteengroup.co.uk/ that Thirteen has available. The site will also give you details about FindOutAbout open to unemployed people aged 15 to 29 and offers support to get into work the support available to buy a home, or training. The easiest way to find out about our such as shared ownership, Help to Buy, quality homes is to visit the Find A Rent to Buy and Right to Buy. For more details about Home section on the Thirteen website. www.thirteengroup.co.uk/ New Directions, FindAHome visit www.thirteengroup.co.uk/ Here, you can find details of all the newdirections properties we have available for rent, and link to our dedicated home sales

12 13 Know your The neighbourhood officers in your area are: Grahame French, Anne Goodman, Jeff Horrocks, neighbourhood officer Area Manager Neighbourhood Team Leader Neighbourhood Team Leader

Our neighbourhood officers work in your neighbourhood to help you deal with a whole range of issues. Anne covers: West Jeff covers: East They can help you with problems around your home Middlesbrough, Redcar Middlesbrough, or tenancy; dealing with bills or your rent account; and East Cleveland and Grangetown and working with other organisations such as the council North . South Bank. or police to improve your neighbourhood; or giving advice on all sorts of things including how to report anti-social behaviour.

If they can’t deal with your issue straight away, Jan Patrick, Ceri Gollogly, Victoria Prout, neighbourhood officers will help you to find a solution Neighbourhood Officer Neighbourhood Officer Neighbourhood Officer by working with other teams in Thirteen.

Neighbourhood officers also carry out regular walkabouts on your estate which you can join. You can get in touch with your officer at:

0300 111 1000 [email protected] Jan covers: Ceri covers: Victoria covers: Newport, Town, Cumberland, Longlands, Cumberland, Longlands,   You can also visit the website for more: St Georges House and Grove Hill, Marton Road, Grove Hill, Marton Road, www.thirteengroup.co.uk/FindOutAbout Stephenson House. Old Convent Gardens Old Convent Gardens and Redcar. Works part and Redcar. Works part You can find out about your local Neighbourhood time, with Victoria Prout. time, with Ceri Gollogly. Officer on the following pages.

14 15 The neighbourhood officers in your area are: The neighbourhood officers in your area are: Tabassum Hanif, Kelly Worley, Kay Horner, Yvonne Butler, Cheryl Connor, Sarah Johnstone, Neighbourhood Officer Neighbourhood Officer Neighbourhood Officer Neighbourhood Officer Neighbourhood Officer Neighbourhood Officer

Tabassum covers: Kelly covers: Kay covers: Yvonne covers: Cheryl covers: Sarah covers: , Hazel and Coulby Newham, Acklam, Coulby Newham, including East Cleveland including Acklam Garden City, Elder Courts and , Whitby Hemlington, Parkside Brompton on Swale, Lingdale, Loftus, Acklam Green, St Aidans Drive. and Scarborough. Gardens and The Holgate Northallerton and Boosbeck, Melbourne and Whinney Banks. Richmond also Salisbury House, Coulby Newham and Southwell Courts, and Phoenix Park – Dales Park – Hemlington Hemlington. Christine Purcifer, Jane McLone, Michael Shaw, and Coulby Newham. Neighbourhood Officer Neighbourhood Officer Neighbourhood Officer

Sam Gibbons, Ros Alderson, Safina Shakeel, Neighbourhood Officer Neighbourhood Officer Neighbourhood Officer

Christine covers: Jane covers: Michael covers: Beechwood, Grove Hill, Beechwood, Grove Hill, Grove Hill. , Saltersgill, Tollesby and and part of Hemlington. part of Hemlington. Sam covers: Ros covers: Safina covers: Works part time from Works part time from Berwick Hills. Pallister Park and North Thorntree and Cargo Monday to Wednesday Wednesday to Friday, Ormesby. Fleet Lane. morning, with Jane with Christine Purcifer. McLone.

16 17 The neighbourhood officers in your area are: What do you think? Jane Hobbs, Helen Lidster, Joanne Teasdale, Neighbourhood Officer Neighbourhood Officer Neighbourhood Officer

To help us provide you with information that is useful for you, we’d be grateful if you could complete this short questionnaire and return it to: Communications Team, Thirteen Group, North Shore Road, Stockton-on-Tees, TS18 2NB.

Alternatively, you can complete the questionnaire online at: www.thirteengroup.co.uk/CustomerVoice or by scanning the QR code with Jane covers: Helen covers: Joanne covers: your smartphone. Pallister Park and Park End, Langridge Park End. Priestfields. Cooperative, Thorntree How useful was this service guide for you? House and Fleet House. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (not useful at all) (very useful)

Which were the most useful articles for you? Please tick all that apply. Making things easier for you Customer service contacts Manisha Sharma, Katie High, Sharon Barden, You said, we did Looking after your home-repairs Neighbourhood Officer Neighbourhood Officer Neighbourhood Officer Gas safety in your home Improving homes Investment in 2017 Services for you Buying and renting Know your neighbourhood officer Is there anything else you’d have liked us to include in this guide?

Manisha covers: Katie covers: Sharon covers: Please give us any other comments about this guide: , Boyds, and Thorntree. Thorntree. Grangetown, South Bank, Spencerbeck, Eston and Normanby. Please tell us your name and address (optional). The areas that neighbourhood officers cover can change, so please get in touch or visit our website for the most up-to-date information.

18 19 www.thirteengroup.co.uk [email protected] 0300 111 1000 https://selfservice.thirteengroup.co.uk