ensuring excellent customer service - cloud object storage...

Service Charges – an

introductory workshop

Ensuring excellent customer service

Speaker: Pascale Mézac

Business Planning Services Plan2moro

Workshop

Service Charges =

Excellent Customer Service

Pascale Mézac

Approach

Who are your customers?

Services: is there a choice?

What is excellence?

Making a difference

Information

Communication

Common service charge issues

3 Sept 2013 Pascale Mézac ©Plan2moro 3

Your Customers

Tenancies and Leaseholds

FAIRNESS:

Does the system favour one type of resident?

Managing the differences: staff and costs

Neighbours – some do talk to one another!

Be aware of charges to similar properties

Agreements can be changed – bear this in

mind when you next consult on services


Your Customers

Affordability

Economic profile of your tenants,

leaseholders and your leaseholders’

tenants

Challenge existing practices

We’ve always done it this way...

Innovation

Partnering

DIY services


Which services

Do you know which services you provide and

you could charge for

Do your residents know that’s what you do

Do they want the services: whether they pay

for them or not will make a difference!

Universal credit will make a difference too...


Consider the management and

delivery of effective services

• MANAGEMENT:

are you actively managing the services or just

administering what is there already

• DELIVERY:

Do you deliver?

Do your contractors care?

• EFFECTIVE:

Are you giving value for money?

Do your customers want the services you charge

them for?

• Making a difference


Clarity of information

Apportionment basis

Fairness Level of services

Choices

Consultation

Value for Money


VFM - Choices

• Fairness

• Reasonable

• Level of services

• Affordability

• Silo or compare – how do you measure up

between

Residents

Schemes

Other providers


VFM - Communication

• Do customers get what they want?

VFM guidance useful (March 2007 H Corp)

• Costs

• Apportionment basis

• Quality standards

• Benchmark

• Good practice to agree changes

• Need for consensus

• Use existing networks and residents’

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The right information ….

Rent or service charge?

Tenant or leaseholder?

Surplus/deficit?

Arrears?

How robust is your policy/procedures?

Understand the legal position

Be clear and consistent – residents’ pack


Accessible


... At the right time

Service charge accounts

Variable service charges

Within 6 months of the year end

Records available for inspection

Consultation

Changes to tenancy agreement

Repairs


Repairs consultation

• Leaseholder responsible for:

Repairs to their own property

Their share of repairs to communal parts

• Consultation approx 3 months but watch out:

EU legislation impact on consultation timetable

when the EU thresholds are exceeded

Specification

Tender

Notification

• Beware improvements!!


Communication

do you have a plan? • Once a year isn’t enough – more than a

service charges statement

• Residents’ pack

• Residents’ involvement

• Feedback goes both ways

• Working together organisation, contractors

and residents

• How do you promote your service charges?

• Improving residents’ quality of life together


Common service charge issues

• What happens in an emergency?

No escape clause in the legislation

LVT dispensation under s20ZA (I) ... reasonable

...may be retrospective – but not guaranteed

• Where might the challenge come from?

Staffing costs

Heating and hot water (individual homes/

communal areas)

Cleaning, including pest control

Grounds maintenance - gardening hedges trees


Pascale Mézac

Wiltshire - 01225 870 430

Mobile - 07810 393 201

[email protected]

3 Sept 2013 17

mailto:[email protected]

ensuring excellent customer service - cloud object storage...

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