Repairs Information

Our contractor will leave a card. You’ll need to telephone the number on this card to rearrange your repair. You may be charged if you have requested an emergency repair or if you had a pre-arranged appointment and you don’t provide access.

You’re responsible for any repairs that aren’t classed as normal wear and tear. Here’s a few examples of the types of repairs that are your responsibility:

♦ Replacing lost keys, changing your door locks

♦ Resetting trip switches.

♦ Fixing or replacing toilet seats and lids.

♦ De-scaling and cleaning the toilet. Note: We will charge you if we need to clear your toilet because of blockages caused by you or your visitors.

♦ Clearing any blocked sinks, baths, toilets and shower trays.

♦ Replacing plugs and chains to baths and sinks.

♦ Repairing or replacing window glass – unless you can give us a police crime reference number.

♦ Any damage that has been caused by you or your household/visitors

This list isn’t exhaustive so if you aren’t sure whether a repair is your responsibility or not contact us.

We’ll charge you for any repair work that we carry out to your home that’s been caused by damage that’s not due to fair wear and tear.

This means that any repairs that we find are a result of deliberate damage, neglect or botched DIY, by you, your household or your visitors, then we will carry out the repair and recharge you for the cost of the works. We’ll also charge for missed appointments.

Also, if you end your tenancy and leave your home or garden in a state of disrepair or leave behind any rubbish or belongings, we will charge you for it.

Any DIY/Improvements that we haven’t authorised will be rechargeable to you if we have to carry out repairs to put them back to an acceptable standard.

And remember – if we do have to recharge you and you don’t pay us then we’ll take legal action that could affect your credit rating, any of your loan applications and your ability to exchange or transfer to another Society property.

For more information or advice on recharges contact us on Tel 01782 986566.

If you lose your keys and don’t have a spare anywhere we’ll change the locks on your property if you need us to, however, you will be charged for this. If you require additional keys then you must arrange this and pay to have them cut.

Beware of illegal door knockers – contact us first!

Several of our customers are receiving home visits or calls from Disrepair Claim Companies who will often say that they are from ‘the housing’ or even in some instances ‘Stoke on Trent Housing Society’ or “the council”. They might say that they are there to complete a survey on the property.

These people represent claim handlers or solicitors, and their aim is to make money from you, usually up to £500 per referral (whether the claim is real or not). They will tell you that your home needs repair and will encourage you to put in a claim against us.

Many of the companies cold calling in our area are operating illegally so we want you to be aware of them, let you know what happens if you claim, and how that claim impacts us and our tenants.

Claims can take up to two years to resolve and this is very likely to cause further inconvenience to you, as the solicitor ‘acting’ on your behalf will advise you not to allow us to carry out any repairs while the claim is on-going. Any improvements scheduled for your property, such as new front doors, kitchens, bathrooms, will also be put on hold until the claim is resolved.

Once you have initiated a claim and signed the solicitor’s documentation, very rarely will the solicitor allow you to change your mind and stop the claim.  They will advise you that, if you want to stop the claim, you will be liable for:

♦ Charges for the survey they have arranged, often up to £1000

♦ Credit agreement charges of over £500 for “no win, no fee” to cover legal cost insurance

Please be careful before you commit to any agreements with these companies, as they could put you at serious financial risk.

What happens if you claim for disrepair?

The Society will defend ALL cases made against us and we have a strong track record of winning cases, often resulting in our tenants being liable for money (sometimes thousands of pounds) to cover the costs of the case.

One of our surveyors will visit your home to do a survey. This survey will check for disrepair and point out anything that needs to be done. Courts view our surveyors as expert witnesses; this means that they also have a duty to the court. Our surveyor will also check if we need to charge you for any property damage during your tenancy.

How disrepair affects the Society and its tenants

It is extremely costly for us to go to court and defend cases. We don’t have insurance against these claims, therefore the more that we spend to defend cases, the less we have for repairs, improvements, and funding for other services for our tenants.

If you have received a call or a visit from a Disrepair Claim Company and aren’t sure what to do, call us first before you sign anything.

We use several contractors to carry out our repairs and maintenance service. Most of them are small local trades. Here’s the standard you can expect from them:

They will: 

♦ Be clean and tidy and cover their shoes/boots when entering your home

♦ Give their name and show you ID when they meet you

♦ Leave a card if you’re not in

♦ Explain what they’re going to do, when it will be started and how long it is expected to take

♦ Ask your permission to use of any of your personal belongings, e.g. your toilet, electricity, the bathroom or kitchen to clean up in.

♦ Use dust sheets where the work is likely to cause a mess and clear up any mess

♦ Ask you to lock away pets before they come in

♦ Let us know if you refuse to let them in to complete the work

They won’t: 

◊ Be in your home unless another responsible adult is there.

◊ Move any of your belongings without asking you first

◊ Make lots of visits to deliver materials

◊ Smoke in your home, play music or use bad language

◊ Accept gifts or payments from you

◊ Accept or keep a key to your home

If you’d like to give us feedback on our contractors send us a message, email info@stokeontrenthousingsociety.org.uk or call us on 01782 968566.

If you are an Assured tenant (your tenancy agreement will tell you this) then you have the right to make improvements to your home. An example might be a new decorative fire surround that you want to install in your living room.

Before you do anything, you must contact us for written consent explaining:

♦ The nature of the improvement work

♦ Details of who will be completing the works.

An officer will visit you to have a chat about your application and then they’ll decide whether you can go ahead or not. Further visits might be arranged to check progress of the works and to check that they have been completed to the required standard.

Permission to carry out an improvement won’t be unreasonably withheld, but permission might be withheld if the improvement will:

◊ Be expensive to maintain

◊ Make the property difficult to let in the future

◊ Be unsuitable to possible future occupants

You would be responsible for the maintenance of the improvement, throughout the lifetime of your tenancy.

To make a written application for consent to improve complete an ALTERATIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS FORMpdf (1)

Why do I need Home Contents Insurance?

As your landlord we cover the buildings insurance for your home but you’re responsible, under the terms of your tenancy, for insuring your contents. It’s always a good idea to shop around for a policy that’ll give you the cover you need.

Home contents insurance isn’t compulsory, but it’s a good idea to consider what a policy would cover you for.  Home contents insurance can help protect your possessions from risks like fire, theft, water damage, and many more household risks, giving you peace of mind.

What does contents insurance cover?

Thistle Tenant Risks and Great Lakes Insurance UK Limited, offer the My Home Contents Insurance Scheme, designed specifically for residents in social housing, all our residents are eligible to apply. This policy can cover things like furniture, carpets, curtains, clothes, bedding, electrical items, pictures and ornaments.

New! Buy online with monthly Direct Debit

It’s now easier for you to get covered with the My Home online platform. You can now purchase your home contents policy online when paying monthly via direct debit, please note paying by direct debit is more expensive than other payment options

For more details or to get started, you have a few options:

Call Thistle Tenant Risks: 0345 450 7288

Visit the website: www.thistlemyhome.co.uk to learn more or request a call back here www.thistlemyhome.co.uk/call-back.

Buy Online www.thistlemyhome.co.uk to purchase your policy and set up monthly direct debit payments for added convenience.

♦ Be secure – by locking your doors and windows when you go out. Make sure that tools and ladders are securely locked away and never leave keys in a ‘secret’ hiding place.

♦ Smoke Alarms – should be checked at least once a month to make sure it is working properly. You can do this by pressing and holding the test button until the alarm sounds.

♦ Electricity – You need to know where your fuse box and mains switch are so you are prepared if your electric supply goes off. Always keep a torch handy in case it’s dark when this happens.  If your electric goes off a switch will trip in your fuse box and you will need to re-set it. If it continues to trip this could be due to a faulty electrical appliance. Unplug all your appliances from their sockets and then plug in each appliance one at a time and switch it on. This way, if the fuse blows again you’ll know if you have a faulty appliance. If you can’t find a fault with your fuse box, check with your neighbours to see if there’s been a power cut.

♦ Water – Find out where the stopcock is (it’s usually located where the water supply enters your home) and test it regularly to make sure it works. You do this by turning it off and running the cold tap in the kitchen. The tap should stop running almost immediately. If it doesn’t, report the problem to us. If there’s a leak or burst pipe you should shut off the water supply to your property.

♦ Radiators – If the top part of your radiator is cold, this may be because air is trapped. Bleeding the radiator will release this air and allow hot water to fill the radiator. Put the bleed key over the bleed valve, holding a cloth underneath to catch any water. Turn the key anti-clockwise and you will hear a hissing noise – this is the air being released. When the hissing stops and water starts to appear, turn the key clockwise and close the valve tightly. Never unscrew the valve completely.

♦ Condensation  – can cause mould growth in your home. Too much moisture and not enough ventilation will result in condensation. Get rid of condensation by giving your home a good airing first thing in the morning, open windows and don’t dry washing directly on radiators. Control steam created in your kitchen or bathroom by opening a window or using extractor fans if you have them.

♦ Blocked Drains – we all use oils and fats for frying and roasting. It also drains out of meat when we’re cooking it – DO NOT POUR IT DOWN THE DRAIN. Many fats are liquid when hot but turn to gooey gloop on contact with cold drains. They will congeal and eventually block the drains! Dispose of oils and fats in your bin or food caddy or pour your oils into old bottles and take them to your local recycling center where they can be turned into clean fuels or disposed of sensibly.

♦ Toilets  – cope with lots of waste every day and are designed for the removal of liquids and bodily waste. Many call-outs for blocked drains turn out to be preventable. They are caused by people attempting to flush things down the toilet that should be disposed of in the bin. Here are the main offenders that you should NOT be flushing down your toilet: Baby Wipes, Sanitary Towels, Nappies, Cotton Wool, Cat Litter and Rags and Towels.

From time to time, your home, garden or the areas you share with neighbours, could get a visit from pests such as ants or mice.

In most cases, it’s your responsibility to deal with a pest problem in your home or garden such as ants, mice, wasps, bees, moths, silverfish, bedbugs etc. It’s also up to you to let us know of any situation that might cause pests to enter your home.
If it’s obvious that the pest problem has been caused due to our neglect or disrepair, such as mice or wasps entering through a hole in the wall, we’ll deal with the problem, e.g. the hole in the wall. We’ll also deal with pests in any communal areas owned by us.

Take a look at our PEST CONTROL LEAFLET for information on how to deal with pests.