Carrington Blake Recruitment
Location
Hammersmith, Greater London | United Kingdom
Job description
ROLE DESCRIPTION
To be the first point of contact for resident’s enquiries regarding current and former tenant rent and arrears. Assisting with rent arrears collection, as well as providing rent account information to residents. You will contribute to the teams performance KPI’s and obligations.
At LBHF our philosophy is to do things with residents, rather then to them. With this in mind you will identify where the rent arrears is likely to cause hardship to residents and advise them of the most suitable avenue of support, be that financial or other means to maximise their income. You will pay a pivotal role in supporting residents to maintain their tenancies and maximise their income.
Your work could span all communication channels, telephone (both inbound and outbound), web, email, face to face, SMS and written correspondence, and you’ll communicate with residents empathically and supportively across all these mediums. Using a dedicated platform, you will also update the Department of Work and Pensions as to the change in rent charges inline with published timescales.
This role will be the focal point for all resident enquiries regarding rent income, as such it is expected that the post holder will aim to maximise successful first-time contacts from residents, whilst providing individual sign posting based in the resident circumstances.
ABOUT THE ROLE
You will need to:
o To act as the first point of contact, providing initial advice to residents regarding their rent account and rent arrears including annual rent increases and resolve directly the most frequent service requests by; telephone, email, web, and other social media channels
o Where appropriate signpost residents to the most suitable means of financial support depending on their circumstances (Welfare Benefit team for Housing Support Fund payments and Discretionary Housing Payments)
o To capture accurate and detailed information to pass to the Rental Income Support Officer where a complex enquiry is made
o To access and record actions on the council’s central housing database relevant information and services, for example, to provide an up to date balance on a rent account or order a rent card
o To capture and update relevant customer information
o Where a resident make you aware they are on Universal Credit, reaffirm that they must update their journal to reflect the new charges and date
o Update the Universal Credit Landlord portal with new rent information within required timescales
o Where hardship is identified make referrals to the Welfare Benefit Team for income maximisation
o Take payments and make low level arrangements as appropriate.
o Encourage residents to sign up for Direct Debit as a means to pay their rent, promoting the benefits of this payment method and publicising any incentives (financial).
o Issue rent statements as requested, investigate missing payment enquiries, check and confirm recent payments, give advice setting up standing orders, signposting for Housing Benefit enquiries.
o Give advice and signpost regarding setting up a standing order and claiming a rent refund.
o To work in a performance management driven culture with SMART objectives linked to the overall key performance indicators, customer satisfaction and first contact resolution targets
o To act as an ambassador for excellent customer service standards taking ownership for resolving each customer enquiry
o To act as positive role model for other staff members, and convey the LBHF standards and values at all times
o To quickly understand customer requirements and resolve these in an efficient manner and deliver an excellent customer experience
o To carry out lower level arrears recovery / administrative duties as directed.
o To work flexibly and cover shifts when required to ensure service is consistently delivered for all the hours of operation (currently 9am – 5pm Monday to Friday)
Pay rate: £22.92 per hour umbrella
Three to six months contract with view to extend or make permanent
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