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