scrutiny universal credit final report 13 july 2016

Internal Affairs for

Adactus500 Scrutiny Panel

Universal Credit: Final Report

13 July 2016

Shehnaz Akhtar

Internal Affairs for Adactus500 Scrutiny Panel

Contents Page

Project background .................................................................................................................... 3

1. Information, advice and guidance .............................................................................................. 3

2. Money Advice Service ................................................................................................................ 5

3. Universal Credit notification ...................................................................................................... 7

4. Managing arrears ....................................................................................................................... 7

5. Affordability checks .................................................................................................................. 13

6. Planning for future impact of Universal Credit ........................................................................ 13

What we liked .......................................................................................................................... 14

What concerned us? ................................................................................................................ 14

Recommendations ................................................................................................................... 14

Appendix:

Staff Interviews ........................................................................................................................ 15

Spot check – Welfare Reform Information ............................................................................... 16

Spot check – Contact Centre Scripts ......................................................................................... 16

Spot check – Arrears Recovery ................................................................................................. 17

Spot check – Telephone Calls ............................................................................................................... 17

Spot check – Triage Service ...................................................................................................... 18

Spot check – Satisfaction Data ................................................................................................. 18

Spot check – Nudge Data Analysis ........................................................................................... 20

Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................... 21

Shehnaz Akhtar


Scrutiny Review: Universal Credit

Final Report

The Project

How well is Adactus managing the Impact of Universal Credit?

Background

Universal Credit is part of the government’s welfare reform. It was the cornerstone of the coalition

government’s approach to ‘work incentives’ and is still being rolled out by the current Conservative

government. The Universal Credit pilot started in April 2013 in Ashton-Under-Lyne then Wigan

before being rolled out to other areas.

Universal Credit combines six different benefits into one single payment; Working Tax Credit, Child

Tax Credit, Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseekers Allowance, and

Housing Benefit. The impact of this change is that housing benefit will no longer be paid separately

or direct to the landlord but will be paid monthly in arrears as part of a single Universal Credit

payment to the resident. Therefore, there is a risk that residents may fall behind with their rent

payment and ultimately face eviction whereas the Association will lose rental income and may

suffer financially.

What we wanted to know

• What information and advice does Adactus provide to its customers about Universal Credit?

• How has Adactus addressed the issue of its customers falling into arrears?

• How does the Money Advice Service help Adactus customers?

• How does Adactus ensure new tenants will be able to afford the rent?

• How has Adactus planned for future impact of Universal Credit?

What we looked at

• Information and advice provided to residents about Universal Credit.

• The process for managing arrears.

• Money advice service.

• Methods of assessing financial capability of new housing applicants.

What we found

1. Information, advice and guidance

a. Written and online information

Shehnaz Akhtar


• Information on Welfare Reform and Universal Credit has featured regularly in the ‘inhouse’

magazine for customers. A review of five magazines revealed the information was useful,

easy to understand, and it detailed the changes to Housing Benefit, PIP, Discretionary

Housing Payments, Bedroom Tax and Council Tax. The articles also provided guidance on

how to open a bank/Credit Union account, how to budget and also advertised the services of

the Money Advice team.

• In 2013, a leaflet entitled ‘Welfare Reform – are you prepared?’ was distributed with the rent

statements that contains information on the changes to Welfare Reform. Evidence was seen

of the leaflet; it encouraged customers who may be affected by the welfare changes to

contact the Income team for practical advice and support on how to manage their income.

• A new leaflet has recently been produced that will be included in future rent statements (it

has been included with statements sent in May and June). The leaflet provides information

on the proposed Government changes taking place between 2016 and 2018 namely; benefit

cap and change to allowances, Housing Benefit for young people, childcare, and Housing

Benefit backdating. However, targeted information/emails is not sent to customers who it is

known will be affected by these changes

• The Adactus website provides detailed information on Welfare Reform changes, under-

occupancy, benefit capping, disability living allowance, and tax credits however, this

information was published before the changes came into effect and some elements need

updating for example, the new benefit cap rates.

• Adactus website also provides details of other specialist organisations that can provide help

and advice with money related matters.

• Adactus operates a scheme called’ RightSize’ which aims to help customers who may be

affected by the under-occupancy rules with downsizing, also known as the bedroom tax (this

is a reduction of housing benefit entitlement for any spare bedrooms). The Adactus website

states that customers can contact a dedicated Occupancy Officer (whose correct job title is

Lettings Officer) who will help and advise with tenancy and under-occupancy matters for

example; how to search for properties that match their criteria, help to register their details

on Adactus’ internal transfer list and with Home Swapper. If a customer is not computer

literate then the Lettings Officer will complete the application on their behalf. Since the

scheme began in April 2013, RightSize has helped eighty-one households to downsize; fifty-

nine transferred into another Adactus property, twenty-one were by mutual exchange and

one was rehoused by a Local Authority. Referrals to RightSize were made directly by the

customer via the Contact Centre.

b. General advice

• Rising fuel costs are a cause of increasing poverty and the impact has intensified since

welfare reform began. To help its customers, Adactus employs an Energy Advisor who will

offer advice on tackling fuel poverty and also visit customers in their home to make an

assessment of the energy efficiency of their home. Referrals are generally made by Asset

Shehnaz Akhtar


Management if the customer has reported damp or condensation issues or a customer may

request this service via the contact centre.

• Scripts provide guidance to Contact Centre staff on how to deal with a range of rent related

issues. A spot check of the scripts revealed there is specific guidance for staff to enable them

to deal with a Universal Credit applicant who does not have internet access.

2. Money Advice Service

• Adactus employs a team of three Money Advisors who work with customers to help improve

their financial situation.

• Money advice service is promoted on the Adactus website to encourage customers to self

refer however, real life case studies are not used to demonstrate how the service has helped

customers.

• Money Advisers will help a customer by looking at their financial situation and also at a

number of other issues such as benefit entitlement, options to maximise the customer’s

income and help them to budget, prioritise their debts to advise which debts require

immediate attention. They will also assist a customer with completing welfare benefit

application forms and will represent and support them through any appeal/ tribunal process.

• Money advice referrals can come directly from the customer requesting this service following

receipt of an arrears letter, or from various departments for example; asset management

following a repair service, the tenancy enforcement and support team after contact, or from

a scheme manager at a sheltered property. Between January and May 2016, 558 referrals

were received as follows:

o 269 - from the Income Team

o 271 - from the Contact Centre

o 12 - from the Sheltered and Supported team

o 6 - from other departments (such as the tenancy enforcement and support

team).

• Customers who advise they cannot pay their rent because they will have no money for food

will be referred to the Money Advisors. In this situation the Money Advisors will refer the

customer to the nearest food bank. The Money Advisors have occasionally delivered food

parcels to customers experiencing financial difficulty who had no money to purchase food.

• In October 2015 a new ‘triage’ system was introduced for a referral, this is operated by the

finance department. This process is used to determine the priority of customers in order to

utilise the Money Advisors’ time efficiently.

• Referrals are received into the Money Advisors’ email inbox. The Income Team

Administration Officer will contact each customer within twenty-four hours to assess their

issues and determine what level of advice they need for example; a basic benefit check using

the “entitled to” website, completing a benefit form, or representation at an appeal hearing.

A spot check revealed that telephone calls were made within the timescale. Eight referrals

were received into the Money Advisor’s inbox on 8 July 2016. Each customer was contacted

in order to obtain further information to better understand their situation or to notify them

Shehnaz Akhtar


the referral had been passed to the Money Advisor who will contact them in due course.

Three attempts are made to contact the customer after that a letter is sent to advise them to

make contact if they still require the Money Advisor’s assistance.

• The triage service will also deal with the more straight forward cases such as the completion

of an online Housing Benefit form or a first application for Discretionary Housing Payments.

More complex cases such as queries relating to Employment Support, PIP, and Tax Credits

are then passed to a Money Advisor. The triage system has recently been improved (June

2016) to allow referrals from pensioners and customers who are at court warning stage or

above to be passed direct to the Money Advisors.

• Occasionally Money Advisors will refer a customer to an external organisation that

specialises in debt advice as they will not deal with a customer’s personal debt.

• Money Advisors are allocated geographical areas to work in (two are based at the Miles

Platting office and one at Chorley); this enables them to build up a rapport with the customer

based on trust and understanding.

• Money Advisors each visit on average five customers a day; these can include repeat visits to

follow up actions for example, chase up a document, make a telephone call to check if a

decision has been made or represent a customer at an appeal hearing. In the last financial

year, on average they each visited six-hundred customers.

• Money Advisors are flexible in their approach and on a number of occasions they have visited

a customer at their work place to give advice (at the customer’s request).

• Adactus has in the past held a surgery to enable people to drop in to receive advice however,

this facility was not fully utilised therefore it was discontinued.

• Due to the demand of the money advice service the current average waiting time for an

appointment with a Money Advisor is up to two weeks. It is envisaged that this service will be

in more demand as the roll out to Universal Credit and transition from Disability Allowance to

PIP progresses. In view of this, one Money Advisor (who was employed on a temporary basis)

has recently been made a permanent employee. There are currently no plans to increase

resources however the situation will be reassessed as the roll out to Universal Credit and

transition to PIP continues.

• Money Advisors are not rewarded with incentives (for example, a percentage of added

income to tenants); it is their role to provide appropriate advice to help improve a customer’s

financial situation.

• Although there is no formal system in place to evaluate Money Advisors’ performance,

evaluating their performance is important and this is done by the amount of income they

generate. Between 1 January and 30 June 2016 the Money Advisors generated approximately

£184,000 in benefit gain to improve the financial situation of customers; this includes

Housing Benefit, Discretionary Housing Payment, Universal Credit, PIP, backdated benefits

and tribunal appeals. A new system is currently in the process of being implemented which

will assist in monitoring staff performance and also the value of the Money Advice service to

the organisation.

Shehnaz Akhtar


• Due to the nature of the service, tenant satisfaction is not currently recorded following

money advice intervention.

• Housing Benefit and Universal Credit training for staff was taking place at the time of this

scrutiny. Training was delivered by a Money Advisor to enable staff to provide customers

with appropriate basic advice. Twenty-two members of staff received this training; seventeen

were supported housing staff, three were from retirement living, and two from other

departments. A spot check revealed the training provides staff with an understanding of

Housing Benefit and how it is calculated, as well as basic knowledge of Universal Credit and

what the transition to it means for customers.

• Adactus is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Any concern or complaint

about the quality of Money Advice Service can be made to Adactus. If necessary a customer

can then take their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

• No members of staff other than Money Advisors give money advice. Universal Credit training

has been provided to sheltered and supported staff to enable them to give general advice

and information.

3. Universal Credit Notification

• When an existing customer makes a new benefit claim, the DWP should notify the Group

that a claim has been made. Provided this notification is received an Income Officer will

contact the customer in order to establish a payment date and to ensure they are aware that

their Universal Credit housing related element is being paid to them and not the Association.

A money advice referral is offered at this stage to assist customers in managing their

finances.

• A ‘flag’ is applied to the customer’s rent account that enables the system to identify

customers in receipt of Universal Credit. This enables the Income team to monitor accounts

and identify customers who fall behind with their rent and who may need assistance with

managing their finances.

• Customers in receipt of Universal Credit are sent a text message a few days before their

Universal Credit payment date reminding them that they need to make a rent payment when

they receive their Universal Credit payment. If the rent is not paid on the due date then the

system triggers a further text message to remind the customer that they have received their

Universal Credit payment and not yet made a rent payment.

4. Managing Arrears

a. Arrears process

• A firm and robust approach is taken on rent collection and arrears recovery. It is the policy to

take early action to progress customers in arrears through the arrears process to ensure that

the debt is dealt with as quickly as possible before it escalates into an unmanageable

amount. This is considered to be the correct approach as the Group will only afford to

provide services if customers pay their rent.

Shehnaz Akhtar


• All arrears are treated in the same way; there is no distinction between customers in receipt

of Universal Credit, Housing Benefit or choosing to pay by another method for example,

direct debit or Allpay. Preferential treatment is not given to customers who fall into arrears

for the first time with an otherwise good rent history.

• Adactus uses an automated escalation process to enable better management of rent arrears.

The Rentsense software uses complex algorithms to analyse the historical data on a

customer’s account to assess their true arrears situation and prioritise cases.

• A report is produced from Rentsense on a weekly basis to enable staff to accurately identify

arrears cases that need further attention for example, it identifies tenancies that had their

housing benefit reduced or stopped, broken agreements and static debts. A manual check is

undertaken on a weekly basis of any cases that are suggested to receive a Notice Seeking

Possession. Once this check is complete the data is uploaded on the Qlx computer system

and automated arrears letters are produced:

1. First arrears letter – sent following an account going into true arrears over £10.

2. Pre action warning letter – sent (one week after the first letter) if the account has

true arrears of greater than £10 and no payment has been received or agreement

made since the initial letter.

3. Notice of Seeking Possession (NSP) – is served two weeks after the second letter if

arrears are above £25 and no payment has been received or agreement made since

the second letter.

4. Court warning letter – served two weeks after the NSP was issued if arrears continue

and no payment has been received or agreement made.

• If after all of the above stages the customer fails to make contact or to make an agreement

to pay the arrears, then an application will be made to the County Court for possession.

• A less vigorous automated letter system, managed by the Income Team Supervisors, is in

place to take account of vulnerabilities in sheltered accommodation. Those customers in

extra care and supported properties are omitted from the automated escalation process.

• Once the weekly Rentsense data is uploaded onto Qlx, automated calls and text messages

are sent to customers in arrears. Three telephone calls and text messages are made each

day to give the customer the opportunity to discuss their arrears. The view is that early

intervention will give customers in arrears the best chance possible of making arrangements

to repay the amount outstanding before it escalates into a problem debt.

• Money advice service, both internally and externally, is recommended at each stage of the

arrears recovery process. A spot check of the arrears letters confirmed this was the case; the

free money advice service is offered on each letter.

• The information contained in the arrears letters is clear and concise and encourages

customers to contact the Income team if they are experiencing difficulty in paying their rent.

• The letters also advise customers to notify the Association if they are in receipt of Universal

Credit or in the process of making a claim.

• The Association relies on its customers to inform them if they move to Universal Credit. The

previous system of notification from DWP was inconsistent and a new email notification

Shehnaz Akhtar


system from DWP is in its infancy. The view is that if customers notify the Association they

are claiming Universal Credit then any arrears arising from this transition can be addressed

quickly particularly as Universal Credit has a one week disregard when the claimant will not

receive any benefit.

• An agreement can be made to pay arrears at a minimum amount of £3.70 per week. Once a

customer makes an agreement then the escalation process is suspended. However, if the

customer defaults and does not adhere to the agreement then the escalation process will

resume which can result in the matter being submitted to court.

• One hundred and thirty-eight (138) arrears cases have been submitted to court between 1

November 2015 and 11 May 2016.

• Forty evictions have been made between 1 November 2015 and 11 May 2016 due to rent

arrears.

b. Alternative Payment Arrangements

• As stated above, there is no distinction between arrears of customers receiving Universal

Credit, Housing Benefit or self paying; they are all progressed through the arrears process in

the same way. However, for Universal Credit claimants an ‘Alternative Payment

Arrangement’ is available (if certain conditions are met) where the Association can apply to

have the housing related element paid directly to them instead of the customer. These are

initiated as quickly as possible where appropriate for example, if the customer is more than

eight weeks in arrears, is vulnerable or struggles financially. In such cases an application will

be made to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) for the housing element to be paid

direct to the Association. The DWP aims to make a decision within five days of receiving the

application.

• An application for an Alternative Payment Arrangements can also be made for arrears

deductions to cover outstanding arrears. The DWP will set this at a minimum of ten per cent

of the customer’s personal allowance or a maximum of twenty per cent. If twenty per cent is

applied and the customer is suffering financial hardship as a result of this then an application

can be made to the DWP to have the recovery amount lowered to the ten per cent minimum

threshold.

• At 11 May 2016, two hundred and sixty-one customers were in receipt of Universal Credit; of

those, eighty-three (32%) had an alternative payment arrangement in place.

• A demographic analysis of general needs customers (bases on rent received between 1

January and 30 June 2016) showed 25% were in receipt of full Housing Benefit, 29% received

part Housing Benefit, 3% were in receipt of Universal Credit and 43% paid their rent by other

methods for example, Allpay. The analysis revealed:

o The highest percentage of customers over eight weeks in arrears were those in

receipt of Universal Credit (25%) and part Housing Benefit (13%).

o Customers in receipt of part Housing Benefit were issued the most possession

orders (6).

Shehnaz Akhtar


o The largest percentages of customers issued with a Notice of Seeking Possession

were those in receipt of Universal Credit (7%) and part Housing Benefit (5%).

The conclusion drawn from these statistics is that customers in receipt of Universal Credit

and only part Housing Benefit are more at risk of falling into arrears.

c. Vulnerable people

• A translation service, Language line, is used to help communicate with customers who do not

speak English. Language Line is an organisation which provides a telephone interpreting

service. Some members of staff possess language skills (French, German, Greek, Polish, and

Turkish) and their skills will be utilised to discuss arrears with the customer.

• The income team may not always be aware of a language barrier until after service of the

arrears letter. Once they are aware they will place a flag on the system to advise staff that

letters may need to be translated. Many customers have a point of contact named on their

account for example, a family member or a support worker who can be contacted to discuss

tenancy matters.

• Where it is known that a customer is visually impaired they will be contacted by telephone

and arrears letters will be produced in large print. A spot check revealed that a customer with

a visual impaired had a 'warning' instruction placed on their rent account to advise staff not

to send text messages. The instruction states ‘no text messages use landline – tenant

partially sighted’. A second instruction states ‘no text messages tenant blind’. Customers can

request for correspondence to be provided in large print however, arrears letters are not

currently available in braille or audio format.

• If the income team are aware that a customer has been admitted in hospital, they will

exclude them from the rent arrears process so that arrears letters are not sent whilst they

are away from the property. Each case will be assessed on its merit to ensure housing

benefit or rent payment continues whilst the customer is in hospital.

• Elderly or vulnerable customers will normally have a representative registered on their

tenancy so should the need arise they can be contacted to discuss the rent account.

• If a customer advises they are unwell and the arrears letter has caused them undue stress

then a flag may be placed on their rent account to prevent automated calls, texts and arrears

letters. The account will be monitored manually and if necessary contact will be made by a

personal telephone call or email to discuss their arrears.

• In cases where Adactus is notified of bereavement the customer’s rent account will be placed

on ‘pilot x’ to ensure that no telephone calls, text messages or arrears letters are sent. This

will stay in place until the tenancy is ended or a succession takes place.

d. Nudge project

• The project ‘Nudging your way to reduced rent arrears’ was carried out in 2015 to investigate

the impact of social norms and fear messages on income collection and tenant engagement

during the early stages of the arrears recovery process. The purpose was to identify whether

using a ‘nudge’ would be an effective way of increasing rent payment and improving arrears

Shehnaz Akhtar


management. The sample comprised of customers who fell into arrears between 29

September and 14 December 2015; they were randomly allocated into one of three trial

groups that received the following messages:

• Fear – “Last year, 177 people lost their homes because of rent arrears”.

• Norm – “99.8% of all rent due in your neighbourhood is collected on time”.

• Control – used the existing arrears process.

• The results showed that the fear group prompted the highest payment rate, highest average

payment amount and had the fewest contacts. The norm group took longer to pay but

looked for a more genuine, sustainable solution compared to the control group.

• Data showed that:

o People aged 16 – 24 are most likely to be in arrears. This group is more likely to rely on

social media for communication (not simply texts and emails) and it was recommended

that this should be explored.

o Customers in receipt of Universal Credit are more likely to have large rent arrears. In

light of this situation worsening as more customers start to receive Universal Credit, it

was recommended that Adactus consider how to tackle this in the longer term.

o Tenancies of less than one year are slightly more likely to owe more rent than older

tenancies. It was recommended that Adactus needs to be certain that it is doing all that

it can to tackle this.

• A decision has not yet been made on what action to take following the nudge project.

e. Arrears and planned maintenance

• Customers with rent arrears will not qualify for planned maintenance work (however, there

are some exceptions to this rule). A flag is placed on a customer’s rent account if they have

arrears; this notifies staff that a restriction is in place for planned maintenance work due to

their rent arrears and also alerts contact centre staff to pass the customer’s call through to

the Income team so they can discuss the arrears and provide help and support where

necessary.

f. A spot check of five arrears cases revealed…

• We can be confident that every effort is made to contact customers with rent arrears in

order to make a payment agreement to avoid the debt escalating. Money Advice service is

offered before a court application is made in an attempt to help the customer manage their

finances and ensure their income is maximised. In some cases the Income team had

contacted the Housing Benefit department to confirm they had received the customer’s

application. A record of telephone contact and letters sent to the customer were detailed on

the customers rent account.

g. A spot check of incoming calls

Shehnaz Akhtar


• A spot check of five rent arrears telephone calls revealed that most customers who made

contact were in arrears due to a change to their Housing Benefit or they had made a new

claim for Housing Benefit.

• In most cases the customers felt confused why they had received the automated calls/texts.

One customer expressed irritation and one was distressed at receiving telephone calls and

text messages every day; in some cases calls were received on the home telephone in

addition to the mobile number.

• Customers were advised that the automated telephone calls and text messages were to

inform them that something was wrong and they should make contact.

• Contact centre staff were polite, listened to a customer in a sympathetic and understanding

manner and reassured them. In one case staff used the words ‘don’t panic’, ‘don’t worry’, ‘I

understand’, ‘I know it’s stressful for you’, ‘don’t be upset’ (where the customer was crying),

and informed the customer they had done the correct thing by making contact.

• The income team were firm but dealt with customers in a polite and professional manner.

• The money advice service was offered to all customers where appropriate.

• Where it was feasible, customers were advised to enter into an agreement to pay the

arrears. It was explained to them that if they missed a payment it would end the agreement

which would trigger the next stage of the arrears process.

• Customers were informed that automated telephone calls and text messages would continue

for the day but would stop the next day.

h. Adactus500 Survey

• Eighty participants, all of whom had experienced rent arrears in the last two years, took part

in the recent Adactus500 survey on how Adactus handles its rent arrears (of those only seven

were in receipt of Universal Credit):

o Over half were in arrears due to Housing Benefit or wages problem.

o Most people had negative emotions when in arrears.

o Women were more likely to be worried whereas men were more likely to be upset or

annoyed.

o Almost seventy five percent of participants contacted Adactus to discuss their

arrears.

o Most people made an agreement to pay their arrears; men were more likely to pay

off the full arrears.

o Most people thought they had done enough to handle their arrears although the

under thirty age group thought they could have done more.

o Over half the participants thought Adactus had done enough to help; this rose to

two-thirds in areas close to an Adactus office and less than half in areas further

away. A spot check revealed that Adactus does not collect satisfaction data on how

arrears are dealt with however, extensive data on satisfaction with repairs is

collected and this revealed there was no correlation between distance from the

offices and repair satisfaction.

Shehnaz Akhtar


o Overall people were very positive about Adactus’ approach to rent arrears; in office

based areas this was more positive than areas further away.

o Less than one quarter of participants had heard of the Financial Inclusion (Money

Advice) service.

5. Affordability Check

• To ensure viability Adactus assesses the financial capability of new applicants. Lettings

Officers carry out an affordability check pre sign-up to determine if the applicant will be able

to afford the rent without falling into difficulty. They use an online tool to calculate

affordability; details of income and expenditure are input into the system along with any

ongoing debts. The system uses a traffic light system that gives each person a score based on

their disposable income. As part of this affordability check a risk assessment is also

completed. This takes account of any known risk factors within the household, for example,

in employment but on a zero hour contract. The completed affordability assessment is

passed to a Money Advisor for them to assess and determine what assistance can be given to

maximise the household’s income. Affordability assessments that show a property to be

unaffordable, despite the Money Advisor’s proposed intervention, are passed to the Head of

Income and Assistant Director of Asset Management to make a final decision on the

allocation. To date, only one person has been refused a property on the grounds that they

would experience significant financial hardship and would not be able to sustain their

tenancy.

• Evidence of income is seen however, this is not retained on file.

• A new tenant is required to pay one week’s rent payment in advance.

• Lettings Officers will help a new customer to set up a direct debit payment to pay their rent.

6. Planning for Future Impact of Universal Credit

• Adactus will continue to assist customers in the most appropriate way to ensure they can pay

their rent. The decision to leave the European Union will not impact on how arrears are

handled. Adactus will continue with:

o Affordability checks of new applicants.

o Assisting new customers to set up a direct debit for rent payment at sign-up.

o Free Money Advice service.

o RightSize – to help customers affected by under-occupancy.

• Adactus will continue to collect as much rent as possible and mitigate arrears:

o The Income team will be allocated geographical areas for which they will be

responsible for rent collection. This will give them the opportunity to understand the

circumstances of individual customers to enable a more tailored approach appropriate

to the individual. This transition took place on 11 July 2016; the Income team have

now been allocated patches by geographical areas and will deal with all arrears cases

through to the eviction stage. Prior to this change, arrears cases that reached a Notice

of Seeking Possession stage were passed to the Enforcement team to deal with.

Shehnaz Akhtar


What we liked:

•••• Rentsense reports to identify tenancies that had their housing benefit reduced or stopped,

failed agreements and static debts.

•••• Contacting tenants at the start of arrears before they build up.

•••• Automated calls and texts to tenants to remind them of their arrears.

•••• Treating vulnerable customers with arrears sensitively.

•••• Customers are dealt with in an understanding manner.

•••• Money advice service.

•••• Triage service.

•••• Assisting customers with setting up a direct debit at the start of a tenancy.

•••• Helping customers to downsize via mutual exchange/Home Swapper.

•••• Training of front line staff to keep them up to date with changes to the benefit system.

•••• Affordability checks.

What concerned us?

• Information on the website requires updating.

• Automated calls/texts continue for the rest of the day after an agreement/contact is made.

• Satisfaction in the way arrears are handled appears to be lower for people living further from

Adactus offices.

Recommendations

• Update Universal Credit information on the Adactus website and maintain it.

• Send targeted information to customers who it is known will be affected by welfare reform.

• Use real life case studies to promote Money Advice service.

• Consider holding a rent surgery once a month – where customers can book a slot or drop in

to speak with a member of the income team to discuss their arrears.

• Review resources (Money Advisor) as the transition to Universal Credit and PIP progresses.

• Look into the possibility of preventing automated calls/text as soon as a customer has made

contact rather than they continue for the rest of the day.

•••• Consideration should be given to the findings and recommendations made in the ‘nudge your

way to reduced rent arrears’ report.

• Investigate if satisfaction in the way arrears are handled is lower for people living further

from Adactus offices.

Shehnaz Akhtar


Appendix

Staff Interviews

The following interviews were carried out with staff:

Name Role Date

interviewed

Topics covered

Mike Murphy Head of Income/Leasehold

Management

11/5/16 Impact of Universal Credit

Arrears recovery process

Future impact of Universal

Credit

Clare Myers Arrears Supervisor 11/5/15

24/5/16

Arrears recovery process

Monitoring

Arrears Letters

Liaqat Ali Shan Lettings Officer - Tenancy

Matters

11/5/16 RightSize

Under occupancy

James Wright Money Advisor 18/5/16 Money Advice service

Robin Graham Money Advisor 18/5/16 Money Advice service

Lorna Taylor Income Team Administration

Officer

20/5/16 Triage system - Prioritising

money advice referrals

Athanasius

Protopapas

Marketing & PR Manager 24/5/16 Promoting Universal Credit

Inhouse magazine

Leaflets

Sam Ryan Marketing Officer 24/5/16 Universal Credit and

publications

Inhouse magazine

Helen Coulson Allocations & Lettings Manager 24/5/16 Affordability checks

Mike Murphy Head of Income/Leasehold

Management

27/6/16 Increasing resources

Performance

monitoring/Money Advisors

Kimberley Clarke Director of Finance 30/6/16 Planning for future impact

of Universal Credit

Shehnaz Akhtar


1. Spot check – Welfare Reform Information

What we wanted to check

We wanted to know how Adactus had prepared its customer for the change to Welfare Reform

and what information, advice and guidance on Universal Credit had been provided.

What we looked at

A request was made to the Marketing team to provide a copy of a recent inhouse magazine. A

check was carried out to determine if information on Universal Credit had been featured in the

magazine.

What this means

Information on Universal Credit was regularly featured in the inhouse magazine:

o Winter/spring 2013 – preparing for Welfare Reform change and independent (external)

Money Advice Service.

o Autumn/winter 2013 – full page article on welfare benefits system and half page on

bedroom tax.

o Spring/summer 2014 – double page featured article on Universal Credit, ways to pay rent,

PIP and Discretionary Housing Payments.

o Autumn/winter 2014 – full page article on Welfare Reform including bedroom tax and

students, full page on credit unions, library internet access and setting up direct debits.

o Summer 2015 – full page article dedicated to Universal Credit with information on

opening a basic bank account, it also featured a full page article giving advice on

budgeting.

2. Spot check – Contact Centre Scripts


We wanted to know if guidance was available for Contact Centre staff to enable them to deal with

customers with rent arrears in and in receipt of Universal Credit.

What we looked at

We accessed the ‘Knowledge base’ database and reviewed scripts relating to money matters and

rents and payments.

What this means

The scripts provide guidance to staff on a range of rent related matters for example; how to deal

with a request for assistance to set up a bank account, setting up a Direct Debit, different methods

of making a rent payment, an arrears query and an enquiry from a Universal Credit applicant who

do not have access to a computer.

Shehnaz Akhtar


3. Spot check – Arrears Recovery


We wanted to know if the Rent Arrears Recovery Policy was followed when chasing rent arrears

and if Money Advice was offered in an attempt to help a customer with arrears.

What we looked at

We randomly selected five arrears cases identified by MobySoft. We accessed each customer’s

rent account and checked the arrears history and monitoring notes.

What this means

The arrears recovery procedure was followed correctly in all the sampled cases. Four customers

made contact after receiving the second letter and made an agreement to pay their arrears

however, the agreement was not held and the cases progressed to Notice Seeking Possession then

a court warning letter. The customers made contact following the court warning letter and Money

Advice service was offered. Two customers made an agreement after an application had been

made to the court (a suspended possession order was awarded in these cases). In two cases staff

had contacted the Housing Benefit department to confirm if an application had been made and to

establish at what stage it was at; once confirmed the arrears recovery procedure was suspended.

4. Spot check – Telephone Calls


We wanted to determine if incoming calls from customers with rent arrears were dealt with

consistently and in an understanding manner.

What we looked at

Case Letter 1 Agree

ment

Letter 2 Agree

ment

NSP Agree

ment

Court

Warning

Agree

ment

Money

Advice

offered?

Agree

ment

Apply to

court?

Warning

Court

Application

Agree

ment

1 � � � � � � � �

2 � � � � � n/a

3 � � � � � � � � �

4 � � � � � �

5 � � � � � �

Shehnaz Akhtar


We accessed a random sample of five rent arrears telephone calls from the call recording system.

We listened to the calls and reviewed the language, tone, and manner used by staff when dealing

with customers.

What this means

Customers in arrears are dealt with in an understanding manner. Staff will use specific language

and tone to comfort a customer who is upset and will reassure them that they have made the

correct decision to contact the Association in order to resolve their arrears situation. If customer

services staff cannot deal with the enquiry they will pass the call through to the Income team who

will deal with the customer in a polite and professional manner.

5. Spot check – Triage Service


We wanted to check if customers referred to the money advice service were contacted within

twenty-four hours in accordance with procedure.

What we looked at

We work shadowed the Income Team Administration Officer. Eight referrals were received into the

Money Advisor’s inbox on 8 July 2016. The referrals came from the contact centre and

Sheltered/Supported housing. The message contained in the emails was brief therefore each

customer was contacted by telephone in order to obtain further information to better understand

their situation.

What this means

Customers are contacted within timescales to acknowledge their referral to the money advice

service and to gain detailed information on their situation in order to provide the correct

information/advice based on their circumstances.

6. Spot check – Satisfaction data


We wanted to know if there was any correlation between satisfaction levels and distance from the

office.

What we looked at

Adactus does not hold data on satisfaction with how arrears are handled by the Income team. We

therefore used repairs satisfaction data as a proxy to establish if there was any correlation

between satisfaction with our services and distance from the office. Repair satisfaction data dating

Shehnaz Akhtar


back to 2014 was analysed by ward. We looked at wards that had responses of more than 20

people. The results of this have been plotted on a map:

Shehnaz Akhtar


What this means

The average level of dissatisfaction with the repairs service per ward was 9.483%. On the map,

wards with dissatisfaction levels higher than 9.483% are marked in orange and areas with less

dissatisfaction are marked in blue.

Although there are clusters of dissatisfaction further from our offices (e.g. on the Wirral, or in

South Ribble) there is also evidence of wards with high satisfaction far from our offices. Also, there

are pockets of dissatisfaction close to our offices. This means there is no correlation between

distance from the office and levels of dissatisfaction.

7. Spot Check – Nudge Data Analysis


We wanted to know how effective the nudge pilot was.

What we looked at

We looked at the ‘Nudge’ report and analysed data produced by Mobysoft reports:

What this means

The nudge pilot was effective in bringing in more rental income through using a series of messages

targeted at groups of customers in arrears. The fear group prompted the highest payment rate,

highest average payment amount and had the fewest contacts. The norm group took longer to pay

but looked for a more genuine, sustainable solution compared to the control group. Data showed

that people aged between 16-24 were most likely to be in arrears, people in receipt of Universal

Credit were most likely to be in arrears and people who had tenancies of less than one year are

more likely to own more rent arrears than older tenancies.

Shehnaz Akhtar


Acknowledgements:

Universal Credit Scrutiny Panel Members

(Without their effort, the completion of this scrutiny project would not have been possible)

Miss Noreen Anwar

Miss Victoria Atkinson

Ms Julie Bennett

Mr Stacy Gilpin

Ms Jenny Moore

Ms Sandra Nixon

Mrs Mamie Badjie Sarr

Staff:

Suzannah Robinson

scrutiny universal credit final report 13 july 2016

Documents