Service standards

What you can expect from Hastoe

At Hastoe we aim to be customer inspired, enterprising, passionate about what we do, and professional and open when dealing with our customers. Whatever you contact us about, we want you to be able to trust that 'we say what we’ll do and do what we say’.

Our Service Standards are based on consultation with our customers and influenced by practical issues such as the availability of staff and contractors and the supply of materials. We review our Service Standards periodically and in consultation with our customers.

Contacting Hastoe

You can contact us online via your personal MyHastoe account, in writing or by calling our Customer Services Centre. Find out how to get in touch.

Response times when you get in touch

By phone – if staff are not available when you call, we will return your call within 2 working days
By letter – we will respond within 5 working days from the date we receive your letter
Via MyHastoe – we will call back within 2 working days if you have requested a call, or within 5 working days if a written response is required
We will own your enquiry and where possible resolve it at the first point of contact
With outstanding issues, we will keep you informed of the progress being made until your issue is resolved
We will ensure you are satisfied with the way we handled your contact

Repair response times

Priority 1 – Emergency: We will attend to make the situation safe within 24 hours. This applies to repairs to remove immediate danger to people and avoid flooding or major damage to property. For example, loss of heating (between the months of October and April), blocked drains, or total loss of electricity or water. We will usually only do work to make the situation safe at the first visit and carry out a full repair, if required, at a follow up appointment.
Priority 2 – Urgent: We will arrange an appointment and do the work within 10 calendar days. This applies to repairs needed as a result of loss of heating during the summer months (May - September) or hot water, as well as minor leaks from a water pipe, tank or cistern.
Priority 3 – Routine: We will arrange an appointment and do the work within 28 working days. This applies to all other repairs where the problem does not cause immediate inconvenience or present a danger to occupants or the public and cannot wait to be done as part of our planned works programme.
Priority 4 - In cases where components need to manufactured (e.g. doors and windows) or the repair work is not urgent, we will do the work within 90 working days.

Complaints

If things go wrong we will own your complaint and make sure that the issue is resolved as quickly as possible.
We will acknowledge your complaint in writing and allocate it to a complaint handler within 5 working days of you making the complaint.
Stage 1 - A full written response will normally be provided within 10 working days of your complaint being logged by the Customer Services team. If the complaint handler is unable to provide a response within this timescale, they will let you know when it will be responded to. This will not normally be longer than another 10 working days unless there is a good reason.
Stage 2 - If you remain unhappy with the response you received at Stage 1 you must let us know within a month of our response and we will review your complaint. We will acknowledge the review of your complaint within 5 working days. A full written response will normally be provided within 20 working days of your complaint being escalated. If the complaint handler is unable to provide you with a response within this timescale, then they will let you know when it will be responded to. This will not normally be longer than another 20 working days, unless there is good reason.

Visiting you in your home

If you make an appointment, we or our contractors can arrange to visit you in your home between 9am-5pm from Monday to Friday.
We will provide or arrange interpreting facilities on request.
Our employees and contractors will always carry identification with them and we will provide that identification on arrival at your home.

Looking after our estates

We will keep communal areas and facilities in a clean, tidy and safe condition.
We will keep communal grassed and planted areas in an acceptable condition.
We work in partnership with residents and others to make sure neighbourhoods are safe, clean and well maintained.
We will investigate and, if necessary, enforce tenancy conditions where we find unacceptable conduct, for example, untidy gardens and dumped rubbish.
We will remove offensive or obscene graffiti within 24 hours.

Making a payment

We prefer you to pay by Direct Debit. By arrangement, you can also make a payment online via MyHastoe, Standing Order, by phone with a credit/debit card, or via PayPoint at the Post Office. Find out how to make a payment.

We will calculate your charges in accordance with your tenancy agreement or lease, and in line with Government guidance.
We will process a request to set up a direct debit within 7 days of the request.
We will set up your Direct Debit to collect on the first day of the week, month or quarter that your charges fall due, in line with your tenancy agreement or lease.

If you are having difficulty paying your rent

We will take early and appropriate action to tell you of any arrears on your account.
We will provide free advice on welfare benefits and how to manage debt.
We can make a referral to our own Benefit & Welfare service who can offer advice.

Dealing with damp, mould and condensation

Once you have reported any damp and mould, you will be contacted within 2 working days for further information. We will determine the priority of each report of damp and mould as high, medium or low.

High – In cases of penetrating dampness including rising damp, water leak, extensive mould growth in habitable rooms, vulnerable residents (including young children or the elderly) an order will be raised to the contractor to remediate the leak within 24 hours. A further inspection will take place within 10 working days.
Medium – In cases with multiple areas of extensive condensation and/or mould growth in habitable rooms, an inspection will take place within 14 working days.
Low – In cases with areas of mould growth limited in coverage and location i.e. in cupboards, corners of rooms and around windows, an inspection will take place within 14 working days.

If you have reported antisocial behaviour

We will complete a risk assessment and tell you the grade of the case. Our response times will be as follows:

High level ASB case, such as actual physical violence, threats of violence or hate crimes – 24 working hours
Medium level ASB case, such as ongoing noise nuisance or verbal abuse – 48 working hours
Low level ASB case, such as fly tipping, dog fouling or an untidy garden – 5 working days

In most cases we will agree an action plan with you within 5 to 10 days of you reporting the problem. The action plan will include an agreement on how and when we will communicate with you and how any necessary support can be provided.

If you have reported domestic violence or harassment

If you report domestic violence or harassment a Housing Officer will contact you within one day.
We will agree an action plan with you for managing your case, including agreeing on how we will communicate with you throughout the case.