Wherry newspaper
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Our customer service standards
We have standards for all the services we provide including customer service, repairs, neighbourhood management, anti-social behaviour and complaints.
Reading these standards below let you know what service you can expect from us.
Click on the link below to view a copy of our customer service standards leaflet 
Our customer service standards (362 KB)
or scroll down to read about them below.
Our customer service standards
We developed these standards by consulting residents. They set out what
you can expect from us.
Customer service
We will do the following:
• Treat you with respect and offer a friendly and polite service.
• Have offices and services available from 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday.
• Provide a 24-hour emergency service every day.
• Answer your phone calls within 30 seconds and give you the name of the person you are speaking to. The longest you should ever have to wait for your
call to be answered is two minutes. We are aiming to improve to be able to answer your call within 20 seconds.
• Have up-to-date voicemail messages that are checked every working day.
• Return calls and messages within one working day.
• Introduce ourselves by name and wear name badges.
• Provide offices that are clean, tidy, comfortable and accessible to
people with disabilities.
• Provide an area where you can speak to us in private.
• Have minicom and hearing loops available for people with hearing difficulties.
• See you at the time of your appointment.
• See you within 10 minutes if you do not have an appointment.
• Arrange an interpreter to translate a conversation over the phone if
you need it.
• Arrange for a signer or interpreter if you need one for your appointment (and you tell us beforehand)
• Reply to letters and e-mails within 10 working days.
• Get information from you about your language needs or other needs and use this to provide our services to you.
• Send you leaflets on our main policies if you ask for them.
• Give you information in other languages or formats, such as Braille or large print, if you ask for it.
• Make sure our website contains useful up-to-date information for
customers.
Repairs
We will do the following.
• Agree an appointment that is convenient for you and us. This
will normally be either a morning or afternoon appointment.
• Treat your home with respect.
• Show you proof of our identity before we enter your home.
• Make sure our contractors keep to our code of conduct.
• Aim to complete the work in one visit or let you know when it will be finished.
• Check with you that the work has been completed.
• Tell you beforehand if we are sending contractors to your home.
Major work
We will do the following.
• Publicise the details of our major work standard, in customer leaflets and the tenant handbook.
• Tell you when your property is due for improvements.
• Offer you even more choice about improvements to your home if you have kept to your tenancy agreement.
• Provide you with a named liaison officer before, during and after
the work.
• Keep you informed throughout the work.
Adaptations
We will do the following.
• Tell you how the adaptations process works and keep you informed throughout.
• Give you clear information about any work we will carry out in your
home, including target dates.
Moving into your new home
We will do the following.
• Come with you to view your new home.
• Tell you when your viewing date is likely to be when we offer you
a property.
• Provide a home that is safe, clean and ready for you to move into.
• Make sure all our properties meet our property lettings service standards.
• Give you a copy of your tenancy agreement and a tenant handbook, containing useful information about your tenancy, your home and the services you can expect from us.
• Tell you how you can pay your rent and help you with your Housing Benefit form if you need us to.
• Make sure all equipment in your home comes with instruction manuals.
• Give you local information when you move in.
• Introduce you to neighbours (if you want) and local residents’ associations or other local resident contacts.
Neighbourhood management
We will do the following.
• Provide a named member of staff for you and your home and give
you their phone number and e-mail address.
• Visit you within six weeks of you moving in.
• Inspect each estate at least every six weeks.
• Give you the opportunity to take part in your estate inspection at
least twice a year.
• Tell you about the outcomes of estate inspections.
• Remove rubbish that has been dumped on our estates within two working days of it being reported.
• Remove offensive or discriminatory graffiti from our property within 24 hours of it being reported.
• Investigate properties reported as abandoned within three working days to make them safe and secure.
Antisocial behaviour
We will do the following.
• Always have someone available to deal with antisocial behaviour during office hours.
• Investigate all complaints of antisocial behaviour.
• Respond to reports of harassment and domestic violence within one working day.
• Offer clear advice and support when you report an incident.
• Agree an action plan with you within two weeks of you reporting an incident and review this every month.
• Work with you to try to sort out your complaint of antisocial behaviour.
• If we close your complaint (that is, we decide not to take any more action), we will write to you to explain why.
• Use measures to prevent and reduce antisocial behaviour.
• Use appropriate legal and nonlegal solutions to deal with antisocial behaviour.
Complaints
We will do the following.
• Let you know how you can make a complaint.
• Try to sort out your issue with you when you first tell us.
• Respond in full within 10 working days if we cannot sort out your complaint when you first contact us.
• Look at complaints so that we can learn from them.
Paying for your home and services
We will do the following.
• Provide you with a named member of staff to manage your rent account and give you their phone number and e-mail address.
• Give you a rent card within five days of your tenancy starting.
• Give you information about your rent and how it is set.
• Consult you about changes to service charges.
• Offer a range of ways for you to pay your rent including:
- flexible direct debits that can be set up over the phone;
- a payment card that you can use at the post office and in PayPoint and PayZone outlets
- a telephone payment line so that you can pay your rent by credit or debit card 24 hours a day, seven days a week; and
- an internet payment service for paying using your credit or debit card.
• Help you apply for Housing Benefit.
• Make sure all your payments are showing on your account within 72 hours of us receiving them.
• Send you a statement at least once every three months and when you ask for one. You can also look at your rent statement at any time through our website.
• Give you the opportunity to get advice about debt and benefits.
Involving you
We will do the following.
• Give you clear information about how you can become involved with us.
• Provide a range of opportunities for you to get involved.
• Pay any expenses we have agreed with you to make sure you are not out of pocket as a result of being involved.
• Recognise and value your involvement.
• Consult you and publish the results in newsletters.
• Publish a yearly statement of what involving you has achieved.
Support services provided by EPIC Trust
If you receive support from our partner EPIC Trust we will do the following.
• Provide you with a named support worker and a support contract, which provides details of your rights and responsibilities, when you take up a service.
• Agree a personal support plan with you within two weeks of you taking up a service.
• Review your support plan at least every six months.
• Send you an organisational report each year.
